DESTINY
by aisha12894
Summary: Tyson is in for a big shock when he learns something about Hilary that just may help or harm his life. But the thing is that Hilary does not even know herself. How will she find out? What is her secret?
1. Prologue

During Feudal Era Japan…

It was a time where peace, harmony and tranquility concide with one another. Not to forget the ravishing natural beauty that it provided for its inhabitants to enjoy for business as well as pleasure.

The country was broken down into five separate territories which allows citizens to roam in and out of the other territories after a completing a preliminary security check. Each area was populated except for one region which was designated as a neutral zone, which ironically laid in the center of the other four areas.

Each territory had their respective deity to guard them. The deities names were the Black Warrior or Genbu, the Vermillion Bird or Suzaku, the Azure Dragon or Seiryuu and the White Tiger or Byakko.

They each symbolized characteristics that could be easily distinguished among the other deities' followers.

Those who are born in the northern territory or in Genbu's area were known for their ability to adapt to their surroundings and exhibited protectiveness over friends and family. The people are quiet, shy, harmless, and displays intelligence and tend to put their guard up when coming into contact with new people. They sometimes withdraw themselves when it is a trying time and would use laughter or other forms of distraction to steer their attention away from fear.

Those who are born in the southern territory or in Suzaku's area were known for their ability to progress farther then their other countrymen and exhibit an excellent judgment of people through their actions and words. They are known for their "never say never" attiude, quite resourceful, clever, flexible to be around, and the drive to see the unknown. They are always afloat on knowing information and are highly sought out for their sound advice.

Those who are born in the eastern territory or in Seiryuu's area were known for their ability to find balance within problems that arise in situations and exhibit a friendly and tolerant disposition to others. They are located near the ocean and some streaming inland rivers. The people are known for inspiring confidence in others by being honest, witty and is never shy with whatever that they want and sometimes act before thinking. They are gifted with innate courage, tenacity, intelligence and are always on the move.

Those who are born in the western territory or in Byakko's area were known for their ability to execute precision and accuracy on an individual level as well as group level and exhibit virtue and loyalty. They live among the mountains and are fearless when standing up for themselves or the people in their presence as well as holding views on the rights and wrongs in society. They are known for being patient, calm, noble, affectionate, and free spirits.

Then there was their leader, the White Dragon whose real name is a mystery due to their ancestral belief that his name was unimportant to remember except with one exception. Those who were deemed to be worthy enough would hear his real name or make their way into his area freely.

In order to maintain peace among their rightful subordinates the deities would come together three times out of the year: the winter and summer solstice and New Year's Eve. There they would conduct meetings on which events occurring within their own lands and bring it to the forefront for discussion.

One particular year brought worries to the guardians due to a familiar name being uttered out of each of their mouths, "_Shadow_"

"It seems as if you all have been plagued by this bandit name Shadow. Might I ask what did he do?" The White Dragon inquires about Shadow after hearing his fellow brethren complaining about the same indiviual.

"He has created mines in my mountains!" "He has brought illness among my people!" "He is slowly destroying my people's resources!" "He is bringing hostility among my people!"

"It seems as if he has brought more harm than good. For now continue to break up disputes while maintaining the peace within all of your territories. You can report the results again so until the summer solstice my brothers." The White Dragon ended the meeting since it was the shortest day of he year.

A couple of months later the summer solstice came around and once again the deities gather in their intended meeting area. This time an unexpected guest crashed the meeting.

"So this is what the commoners babbled on about how the guardians would met to discuss business. Well it seems as if I came in at the appropriate time then since I do have some business that deals with all of you." A male with purple hair who appear to be in his early twenties speak in an indifferent tone.

"How dare a commoner such as yourself bombard your way into our meeting like that." Suzaku, in his human form, was the first to address the human guest.

"Let's just put my status aside for now since you do use this precious time to better mankind. Well I am here for that same purpose." The male answers in a calm tone.

'_There is something strange about this human…' 'He does not seem fazed at the fact he is talking to gods.' _Seiryuu and White Dragon thought to themselves after hearing what the man in front of them proclaim.

"Speak your purpose then child since it is tradition that we honor any request that deals with the betterment of mankind no matter what shape the messenger takes." White Dragon agrees to listen.

"I know you all know about the idea of _Perfect Harmonization_, correct?" the male poses to them.

Expressions of shock and awe flew across everyone's face except for Seiryuu and White Dragon at the thought of Perfect Harmonization.

"What does an insignificant pest like you would know of Perfect Harmonization?" Suzaku questions speaking again, since he was always the brashest of the four.

"The idea that all six elements working together: "water," he points at Genbu, "fire" Suzaku, "earth" Byakko, "air" Seiryuu "and light." "Yet in order for you to be able to achieve that then you must have the opposite of light." The male states.

'_Is he suggesting that he would be his/my counterpart?' _the guardians thought after hearing the human explain Perfect Harmonization as if he was one of the deities.

"After all without light there can be no darkness and without darkness there can be no light. Thus the yin and yang theory plays into the crucial element for Perfect Harmonization." The male concludes his explanation.

"Before you continue...I sense that you have not being lying to us yet. Are you suggesting that you are willing to offer yourself as the element of darkness?" White Dragon verifies as he was trying to figure out of the male's true intentions.

"Why yes I would. I know it will not stop there since I will have to more then likely undergo each one of your trials to see if you deem me worthy." The man clarifies as if he was able to predict what White Dragon was about to say next.

The deities glance among each other sending mental messages to one another after disgesting all of the information that the man in front of them presented to them.

"What is your real name?" the White Dragon inquires towards the male in front of them.

He issues them his real name while bowing at his waist and his face towards the ground, "Satoru, Takeshi."

"Alright then Satoru, Takeshi, it is settled. You will begin the journey of the deities' trails that will prove to us if you have what it takes to become the darkness element. You shall now inform us of how you plan to go about your order." White Dragon announces to the purple haired man name Takeshi.

His eyes track among the deities stern looking faces while trying to figure out what order he should go in.

"North, West, South and East." He gave his order with confidence evident in his tone.

"If that is your final choice, then by your order Genbu is first followed by Byakko, then Suzaku and Seiryuu lastly. You will spend a month with each guardian due to the special circumstances around your request. If you have no further question about your future task then I suggest you should take your leave." The White Dragon explains in a shortened length on what was expect from Takeshi.

"It will be a honor, the sage of the deities, White Dragon." He bows once again before removing himself from their sights.

Once his presence was completely gone then the guardians return back to the business that needed to be address before the end of the night.

"I look forward to seeing you all back at the New Years Eve for the ceremonial drink." White Dragon reminds his brothers before they left from the gathering.

_'It is something about that human that I just can not put my finger on…'_

A couple of months later, New Years Eve roll around with a smiling Takeshi, as the feeling of his plan was almost complete. All he need was for the deities to drink from their cups, which was laced with a toxic sedative that upon consummation they would die.

'_I'm just merely a couple of hours from being the supreme ruler of this land.' _He thought before masking his true thoughts by implanting false ones.

His arrival was brought on with sounds of fanfare, confetti, applauses and shouts from all around him while walking towards where the deities were sitting.

Takeshi noted that the four guardians along with the White Dragon were on their feet clapping for him behind a long black rectangular table that held empty white plates that were desgin to hold sake cups.

"Everyone," White Dragon calls out towards the crowd and instantly everything went silent.

"It is with great honor that we extend our warmest thank you for coming to our annual gathering. For its not every millennium that pass by that we have someone worthy of ascending to celestial ranking." he joke.

"So we chose this day not only because it's the last day of the year but because with a new year comes the bridging of a new element and counterpart to your very own."

This cause hearty laughter among the celestial beings after hearing White Dragon's joke again.

"As you all know that with every year the guardians have the ceremonial drink to start off the New Year so join me in welcoming Satoru, Takeshi whose guardian name will be Osamu, to the platform so that he may partake in his first ceremonial drink." White Dragon finishes up with his announcements.

'_Osamu? It does not sound bad.' _Takeshi thought to himself before his eyes lay upon the six traditional sake like cups on a silver tray.

One was an amber color that was encrusted with emeralds, another was a navy color that had sapphires, one was a marble color that had diamonds, one was an oranguish-red with rubies another one was gold with topaz and his was the gray color with obsidian.

Each guardian receive their respective bowls before another servant fill their cups with sake from a rather large bottle.

'_It's almost within my grasp now…so drink up deities._' Osamu thought to himself when he observe them placed their hands on their bowls.

"Let's welcome in the New Year right…" White Dragon announce when they click their bowls together before downing their drinks except for Osamu who skillfully dodge his mouth.

"Ah that was…" Suzaku could not finish his statement before falling to his death.

"Uh…" Byakko went next while Genbu holds his head in his hand before collapsing on top of the table face forward.

"The world's…" Seiryuu fall next with a non-verbal White Dragon going down last.

"Brothers are you alright?" Osamu questions them trying to falsify concern for his fallen brothers.

Gasps and screams of horror rip through the silence, as there was mass confusion within the area.

"Everyone listen," Osamu projects his voice loud enough so that he could be heard. "As the sole survivor of this unexpected turn of events. I will do my best to rule you all under my wings."

Nobody like that idea since he was still new and did not understand what it meant to be a suitable guardian.

"Now how about we set everything straight, now. I'm the Divine Ruler of this land now! All of those who oppose me shall perish by my hands!" Osamu declares to the frightened crowd.

"It seems as if that was a good nap." Came a voice from behind him.

"Maybe we should take a nap more often, what do you think, Suzaku?" another voice poses.

"It would have been so much pleasurable if someone did not try to poison us, then I can say I would have enjoyed." Suzaku supply an answer to the question.

"That's the strongest dose I have ever had." another voice state when he look down to see Genbu's head twitch.

'_No way I made sure that the dose was more then enough to kill them.' _Osamu thought to himself when he notice the guardians rose from their sleep.

"That was a good call on your behalf, White Dragon, no wonder you are our leader." Seiryuu proclaims while looking at White Dragon.

He merely nods before capturing Osamu in his gaze, "It seems as if your quest for power has blinded you. I already figured out your plan the instant you step foot on our meeting ground and knew you went by the name of _Shadow_."

The group look to see that Osamu was laughing to himself, "I must admit that I severely underestimated you all. So since I am a little impatient on obtaining my utopia. I will end this quickly."

A black aura soon engulfs Osamu's body as the force from it start to crack the ground and left a dent in the ground while the other celestial beings ran for safety

"What kind of power does this kid have?" Genbu poses to the group while observing the child beginning to transform into his animal form.

"Everyone we need to follow suit, if the power that I am getting a read on while he is powering up is accurate...I think we need to transform to be on the safe side." Seiryuu suggest to the group.

"I strongly agree. In order to successfully combat this enemy we will need to level the playing field." The White Dragon agrees with Seiryuu's logic before everyone nod their heads in agreement.

Osamu transform into a four-legged black dragon with purple scales with two horns protruding from the upper portion of his head with golden eyes. He had a ball with spikes at the end of his tail with a small scar under his right eye.

The roar from his mouth shook the surface of the building that some of it just fell apart from the vibrations.

"Alright then let's give it all that we got…" Seiryuu serves as their commander whenever it would come down to battles.

Once they finishes with their cumulative attacks the smoke clears revealing that Osamu was unharmed by their attacks.

'_You got to be kidding me we hit him with everything we had.' _He thought before seeing a blast of black light emit from Osamu's mouth.

"Look out!" Seiryuu shouts to his comrades when a bright white light was seen in his view.

'_White Dragon?' _They all thought once he manages to cancel out Osamu's attack.

"I don't know if I can keep this up. I think we will have to seal him away. He is too strong to try and destroy him and killing is not our way." White Dragon states once Seiryuu float to his side.

"Everyone listen up! We are about to perform the Tetragram Star Seal. In order for that to work we will have to take our respective directions and synchronize our powers." Seiryuu informs the group once they surround the White Dragon and Seiryuu.

'_What are they all planning?' _he wonders to himself once he notice that Seiryuu was in front of him, with the others taking a direction in the sky.

"Everyone we only got one shot at this and we need to do this right or it won't work!" White Dragon announced to the four deities when they nodded their heads in agreement before closing their eyes.

"By the celestial beings allow us to open the gates so that we may properly seal this threat to humanity. Give them the power to evoke the contract of the Tetragram Circle Seal and to seal this creature away." The White Dragon chanted the incantation for the spell.

Osamu notices that to the east's light was silver, the north's light was blue, the west's light was green, and the south's light was red.

'_Why can't I move?' _he thought to himself when he found that his movement was restricted when a bright light caught his attention.

"No way! You can't do this to me! I was so close in accomplishing what I wanted to do. Stop it now you idiots!" Osamu barks after firing off rounds of black energy only to find out it did not work.

"Osamu," The White Dragon calls out his name when his attention fell on him.

"You are hereby condemned by the celestial beings as a tyrant of havoc, chaos and mayhem. You shall never see the light of the days to come ahead. Evoking seal." White Dragon gives his final judgment of Osamu.

_'To the very end Osamu just want to prove himself and vowed that he would get revenge on the guardians one day.' _White Dragon conclude about Osamu's action.

The guardians collapse to the ground due to the Tetragram Circle Seal side effects, depletion on their life's energy.

"My brethren are you alright?" White Dragon inquires once he lands in the middle of his collapsed brothers when he notice that their physical bodies were slowly fading away.

"Man, I have never felt like this...ever." "For some reason, I hear a beautiful melody being played?" "I hear it too and I feel at ease all of a sudden."

"White Dragon, I have but one last favor to ask of you." Seiryuu questions while looking up from its soon to be deathbed.

"Yes, what is?" He nods when he could see that they were fading at a quicker pace.

"We wish for our beast and human spirits to be split in half. We want our beast spirits to wait for the day Osamu might escape again and with our human spirits we wish for those to be given human forms when the time calls for it. Could you honor our last wish for us?" Seiryuu state for the whole of the group.

"After you just sacrifice your lives for the betterment of mankind. I do not see why I can not at least honor your dying wish." White Dragon claim before a bright light glows within him, which put them at ease.

White Dragon followed through on what was requested for him to do by his friends and comrades dying wish, _'May peace and love reign over for all eternal.' _

But that wish would not last for long when a crack in Osamu's seal appears some years into the future.


	2. Chapter 2

Present time

"General Inoue we have located the stone in the eastern region at the respective alter, permission to extract the artifact?" a solider spoke into the ear COM link.

"No not yet, we do not have confirmation on the other sights." A masculine voice answered the soldier's question.

"Report Alpha, Bravo and Delta teams?" the masculine voiced asked.

"Alpha is enclosing on the alter in the northern region." "Bravo just arrived at the southern alter." "Delta is right about the altar preparing for the drop."

"Charlie, wait for the count to extraction." A woman's voice warned while looking up at the visual of each team.

'_If we don't do this right then we may leave the world in complete chaos._' She thought while reaching for her white china teacup and brought it to her lips sipping its hot contents.

"Ma'am, everyone is now within their intended position and now awaiting the countdown for extracting the stones." A solider reported from one of the computer stations.

"Initiate the countdown from five, patch it through to the teams and let's hope for the best." She stated before placing the cup back down on the plate.

"Remove on the count of one. Three…two…one…" The soldiers lifted the stones up at the same time from the visual that they were receiving at head quarters.

A blue, red, yellow and green light emitted from the altar and into the sky before flying off in another direction.

"Ma'am are you sure that we did it right?" a solider asked from their station over their shoulders.

Inoue placed the cup down on the table since she finished drinking the liquid from the cup before responding, "Why would we not?"

"If one of them were to pick up the stones before the others then it could upset the balance of the world." The solider answered the question.

Inoue closed her eyes and released a breath, "Without darkness there can be no light, without any hate there can be no love, without water there could be no fire, without war there can be no peace. If we were to have failed here then something would offset the balance."

"If those stones were rumored to have hold the guardians spirits then how come there has not been any change in the soldiers?" another one asked.

"Who said that those who I sent out to retrieve the mystical item were the ones who are meant to receive the gifts? Let's just say we and a couple of higher ranked officers already have a planned prepared." General Inoue answered in a nonchalant tone.

'_I wonder did they receive the deities gift?' _ Inoue thought to herself before reaching for a shortbread cookie.

0000

'_Where am I?' _a girl with short brown hair asked before looking around to see complete darkness.

'_Hiromi, Tachibana…' _a voice called out to her as she looked around to see where it was coming from.

She felt a gust of wind encircling her body starting from the bottom to the top, when she noticed blue scales that would belong on a dragon; its golden snout and red eyes were pointed in her direction.

'_A dragon?' _she thought before looking at the beast, which made its way in front of her now.

'_Are you scared of me child?' _ The dragon asked her while looking at her deep in her eyes.

For some reason she was not afraid of the enormous size lizard that somehow made it's way in her dreams if anything it was more as if entranced by it.

'_No…for some reason I am not scared of you.' _She answered with confidence in her tone.

'_Good. I hereby select you as the worthy candidate for my powers. Take and use only when the time calls for it.' _The blue dragon stated to Hiromi before passing through her body.

'_What is this sensation?' _she thought not paying attention to the silver flame that glowed in the middle of her chest.

0000

The sound of an alarm blaring throughout the room woke its unruly patron who decided for today that she was not going to destroy that blasted alarm.

The young girl pushed the covers off her bed revealing her sleeping attire as a nightgown when she paused at the edge of her bed to see what time it was.

'_Well there is no use in complaining…' _she thought before pushing herself off the bed completely when she felt a small pain to her back.

'_I thought it would have healed by now…' _the girl thought to herself when she could hear her parents downstairs arguing with each other.

The girl stretched until she heard a pop from her back before stifling a yawn from her mouth, her attention tuned to her clothes.

'_It seems as if she ironed them for me.' _ She thought when she felt a throbbing pain from her left eye when she neared her clothes.

She reached for her crisp white skirt before stepping one foot in at a time. _'It feels as if it has swollen.' _She removed the nightgown that covered her entire body.

The next article of clothing was going to be a little difficult but due to years of practice, the shirt barely grazed her eye when she placed it on.

'_I can not wait till I leave this place…then I won't have to worry about any lies or…_' she thought before making her way in her personal bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face,

A soft knock came at her door that would be equivalent to someone trying to whisper something in her ear.

The girl was slow to inch close to the door as if she was leery of who was on the other side of the door.

She cracked the door wide enough so that she could see whom it was and made the shape out to be her mother.

"Good morning Hiromi, may I come in?" her mother asked her as if she was stranger in her very own home.

"Sure it is your house…" the girl name Hiromi answered with no smile on her face when she opened the door allowing her mother to enter her room.

"I am sorry that you had to be apart of that mess last night but I guarantee you if he lays his hands on you again we are leaving." Her mother told her.

'_Whatever mom, you always told me that…is that your excuse for what he does to you?' _ She thought with doubts in her mind.

"Well I brought you a gift for that eye." Her mother produced a white-eye patch and tied it around her daughter's eye.

"Now I don't want to hold you up too long so get going." Her mother tone sounded with joy but Hiromi knew that the tone was a lie.

'_But she did not seem to forget how to lie though.' _Hiromi thought to herself before making her way out of her bedroom and then the house entirely.

0000

"Are there any signs of DEAVA's in the area or the vicinity?" General Inoue asked her subordinates as the sound of keys tapping away signaled that they were trying to give her the accurate answer to her question.

"No ma'am, the scanners are not picking up on anything at this time. Do you want us to switch to the galactic scanner?" a solider reported as soon as they received the answer.

"For now we are working on a level one code green on basic surveillance by 1300 hours raise it to a level three code orange." General Inoue issued out the command for the moment.

"2nd Lt. Alma." She called out for a specific solider.

"2nd Lt. Alma, reporting to General Inoue." A man with messy raven colored hair stated with a salute present.

"It seems as if Sergeant Maltese claim to have given you what I specifically requested from him." Inoue stated before reaching again in her plate of cookies.

"Yes ma'am, I have the item that you requested for me to retrieve for you." Alma answered before heading out of Inoue's office before coming back in with a laptop.

"Not to step out of line or anything ma'am but why did you request for me to pick this laptop up for you?" He asked with curiousness evident in his tone.

"We have chosen four teenage girls to carry on the wills of the four guardians. They placed the well being of them under my care and I am allowed to handle any and everything covering them. This makes my life so much easier. I have a feeling that the first to awaken would be the Azure Dragon or Seiryuu known by our people." Inoue answered Alma's question with no hesitation.

"So you entrusted their powers to four teenage girls? General, I do not mean to question your judgment but don't you think that choosing teenage girls is a little too much of a risk?"

"Unfortunately it seems as if my say so went above and over our higher ups heads, so they felt that teenage girls, who mature faster then boys, can tap and master their powers faster since they would be able to draw on emotions easier then boys. They strictly looked at it from a rational point when picking the age range." General Inoue explained the process on how they selected that age range for the candidates.

"I did not know that the military was that greedy and selfish, but I am sure that they could not pick just any candidate since it would solely depend on the guardians choose right?"

"The guardians can pick whoever that they want to obtain and wielded their power. We just had to develop a way to entice them to _our _candidates and not the rest of the human beings in the world." Inoue stated before taking a bite into her cookie.

"So you are saying that these girls are not human?" Alma asked as he was slightly confused by Inoue's previous statement.

"Defined human?" Inoue questioned his perceptions.

"A bipedal primate mammal also known as Homo sapiens or broadly generalized as man." Alma answered her question.

"That is a closed minded answer that you gave me there 2nd Lt. Alma. Never in my statement did I claim that they were not human beings. I just said we had to make them special in order for them to catch their attention." Inoue answered after swallowing the cookie.

'_The government could not have…' _he thought when it hit him.

0000

'_It seems as if it is another clear day today? I wonder what are we going to do today.' _Hitomi thought once she neared the entrance of her school.

The sun was not completely up yet but in a couple of hours it would sit high in the sky shining its lights on the people below it.

A flock of birds flew by and landed on black cable wires observing the students out of curiosity. _'I wonder what it is like to fly?' _

She shook the thought from her head and merged in with her fellow students, with some of them in large gathers or small groups of less then three.

Hiromi could feel a vibe of hate coming from the students as they dreaded having to wake up in the morning just to attend school.

However she could not share the same feelings with her classmates no matter how hard she tired. Ever since she was elected as their entire eighth grade class president her life did a couple one eighty turn.

It was as if she found her calling in life or something along that line or maybe it was something that she enjoyed very much. She did not even know the answer to that question herself.

Hiromi felt the throbbing from her eye but it was not as bad as how she got it in the first place.

Even though it would be a long story to tell Hiromi just ran through the abbreviated version within her head.

Her father came home sloppy drunk with his breath reeking of hard liquor and alcohol mixed together. He would stumble over his feet but her mother…her stupid mother was always there to catch him if he fell.

He would make no sense while he was in that state and Hiromi knew that that was not the time to ask or even look in the direction of her father.

Not only did he smell like he was piss poor drunk he would usually had a very sweet smelling fragrance on him that was weird for a male to have unless they wanted to give off that kind of hint.

Her mother caught him in her awaiting arms when the scent of sweet jasmine caught her nose and the sight of a lipstick stain on his neck and collar must have upset her.

She called him out on what she saw when he immediately grew angry and vehemently denied the accusation along with a little pushing and shoving.

Hiromi knew it was time to head into her room since the living room was becoming a little too loud for her.

Long story short she got the wraith of a straight punch to the left eye while trying to get out of the situation.

'_That woman never learns her lesson whatsoever? What is wrong with that woman staying with a beast like that?'_

"Hey Hiromi…wait up!" a familiar masculine voice called out to her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** There is a particular section in her that is pretty graphic about the issue of physical abuse. I personally do not condone physical abuse or any type of abuse from another individual or on another person.

0000

Once Hiromi finished packing her duffel bag when she decided to hide it underneath her bed so it was out of sight from her mother's prying eyes or for her father to notice it.

She stepped out of her white straight skirt that she wore for school and settled for something more comfortable when she decided that a pair of black sweats would do nicely.

Hiromi knew her time was up when she heard the front door open then close and the sound of keys were being placed on the table top.

"I am home!" a feminine voice was heard telling Hiromi that it was her mother instead of her father that had came home first.

She released a held breath as she was personally glad that it was her mother and not her father, "At least I will be able to get something eat."

'_You should at least talk to your mother before you go.' _Her conscious told her before she agreed with it.

Hiromi left from her bedroom and made her way downstairs, "Hey mom,"

She saw her mother jump from hearing her voice, "Don't scare me like that Hiromi!"

Hiromi saw her mom with her hand holding her heart as if it was about to fall out on the floor any minute.

"So you did not have any afternoon activities to do today?" Her mother asks when she noticed her mother's eyes lingered on her eye patch that she had given to her earlier.

Hiromi made her way into the kitchen before opening the refrigerator door to see what she was hungry for, "No not today. I am glad though because I can finally have a break from school."

She decided on a banana to fill her temporary hunger, "You sure you do not want me to fix you a snack?"

"As much as I want some cookies. I do not want to put you through any type of trouble mom." Hiromi said while peeling her banana skin off.

Hiromi saw her mother turn around to look at her face again but this time she had a weird look, "Did something happen between you and Takao?"

Her cheeks turned pink after hearing what her mom had asked her and responded with a "Mom!"

"What? I just asked a simple question that is all. You are blushing like a tomato when I mention his name." She teased her daughter.

"Mom!" Hiromi lost her appetite for the banana after hearing what her mom just accused her of.

She wore a small smile on her face after seeing her daughter's denial when she in fact knows it was the truth.

"Alright, alright, alright, you don't have to be so sensitive about it." Her mother waved at her to calm her anger down while Hiromi ate the banana out of anger.

'_I don't see why I am talking to her…but it feels nice thought.' _Hiromi thought to herself before a smile made its way on her face.

"What are you smiling about now Hiromi?" Her mother asked with genuine curiosity before facing her daughter for the third time.

"I just remembered something that is all. If you need me I am up in my room doing homework." Hiromi half-lied with a straight face.

Her mother nodded when she noticed she checked her wristwatch for the time, "Oh one more thing…"

"How is that eye feelings?" Her mother inquired about her health.

'_Is it me or does she have spilt personalities?' _Hiromi asked herself when she saw that she was innocent in her current actions.

She silently shook her head to get rid of the thoughts; _'I will allow her to have it for this moment.' _

"It stopped throbbing so it must be healing up." Hiromi offered some kind of false hope for her mother.

She nodded again, "If it starts to hurt again I have this cream that you can use that will numb the pain."

'_For the moment Hiromi…for the moment.' _She thought to herself after hearing her mother response to her answer.

Hiromi decided that if she was going to allow her promise to happen then she could not hear anymore of her stories nor stand in her presence.

'_Yeah, love you too Mom.' _She found herself thinking instead of saying it out loud.

0000

Takao had to kick Daichi out in order for him to clear his head. _'I lost to Daichi of all people…Daichi'_

All he remembers is that he was expecting someone to say something but it never did come since it was almost like a routine for him to hear Hiromi say something to him when he would blade against Daichi.

'_I wish Chief would have stayed so I could have talk to him some more.' _Takao thought to himself before remembering his brunette haired friend had to finish up some maintenance on blades as well as complete a few homework assignments at his home.

'_He at least deserve a break every now and then…' _he thought to himself since Kenny was always present when it came down to his bey training and would never ask for time off or even for a break.

'_I wonder what Hiromi could be doing?' _he allowed his mind to wonder about his other brunette haired female companion.

He remembered seeing her once again with another injury except this time it was something dealing with her eye, _'That eye patch gave it away.' _

'_So why did I not ask her about how she got it?' _the thought pass through his head before he decided to lie down so he could think clearly about the situation.

'_Could it have been a black eye?' _he thought to himself since that could have been the only thing wrong with her eye.

'_Now that I think about it that was not the only weird thing about her today. She had one of the fastest times when we had to run the mile in Physical Ed today.' _Takao thought to himself.

'_Kenny, Hiromi and I would usually have one of the slower times unless she held back so she could talk to us.' _He thought before shaking his head once again.

"You know they say thinking is a dangerous past time for children." The sound of his grandfather's voice brought him out of his thoughts dealing with Hiromi.

Takao sat up to see his grandfather standing above him with a kendo stick pointing towards the ground with his hand crossed at the hilt of the wooden sword.

"If you say so," Takao answered his grandfather's statement.

"It is almost time for our daily kendo workout. Go on and start getting dress so we can end early?" Grandpa told him.

Takao had shock on his face, "Is there somewhere you have to be today Grandpa?"

"Less talk…more moving." Grandpa answered before seeing his grandson scramble to his feet after threatening him with a wave of the kendo stick.

'_It seems as if it is about to start raining…' _he thought before patiently waiting for his grandson to come back.

0000

Hiromi decided to stay in the living room since she did not have any television in her room and opted to only stay down there for a couple of minutes.

She saw her mother had ventured upstairs for the first time this afternoon before coming back downstairs a couple of minutes later. _'Good she did not even bother to look underneath my bed.'_

Hiromi decided to pay her no mind since that was her mother's daily routine, to go upstairs look around her room for any signs that she might leave the household and her very own bedroom.

They did not hear the sound of the doorknob being played with before it opened up and her father came stumbling in and managed to lock the door back.

"I'm…home." He announced in a drunken like fashion when he enter the living room.

Her father had come home smelling like alcohol, booze and liquor all mixed into one as if it was his daily routine to get wasted every afternoon.

Hiromi planned to leave but the sight of her mother's face turned to something of an angered look.

'_Please mom…don't say anything. Just let him come in and fall asleep.' _Hiromi thought to herself as the look her mother had on her face was familiar to her.

"What is this?" she heard her mother asked her father while holding a small white plastic bag in her hand.

Her father looked at it as if his eyesight was blurry before he responded to her question after realizing what she had in her hand.

"Its not mines!" her father shouted at her not caring that Hiromi was observing everything from the couch.

"Don't play dumb with me I am not that stupid!" she fired back surprising and thus further angering him.

"Even if I was to do something…it would have gone down already," he told her after turning his back to the fussing woman.

"Are you sleeping with another women?" her mother continued to prod at her drunken father.

"Now listen here woman, ask me one more _damn_ question, you are not going to like what you see." Her father threatened her.

_'Mom just let it go he just gave you your chance. Why do you have to be so stubborn?' _Hiromi thought to herself after hearing her father's tone used with her mother.

"We never use condoms before," she shouted at the drunken man who stopped and turned around with an evil look on his face.

"Mother," Hiromi cried out as she tried to stop her father on his anger tirade before he pushed her down.

She continued to hold off her dad but what happened next told her two things: one her father had no sense in what he was doing at the moment and secondly that it was time for her to leave the household.

**{Warning: The following is the strong content that I mention at the start of the story so if you do not want to read it scroll down till you see stop.}**

She felt his strong backhand come across her face, or rather her cheek hard forcing her to release her hold on him and fell on to her butt while he held his grip on her mother's neck.

Her angered mother tried to easy the grip off her neck while protesting about him hitting their child and not caring about her safety.

Hiromi saw her mother wildly flailing her feet about before she connected with her father in the private area causing his grip to loosen around her neck.

Hiromi's mother tried to run away but her father recovered before he caught her ankle and tugged hard causing her to fall face forward on the ground.

"Now look what you made me do! I think pay back is in order," he said after pinning her mother down with his body.

"Your body will do just nicely," he told her after turning her over and held her arms down and her lower body with his body once again.

"Don't do this! Not in front of Hiromi!" she protested after feeling him ripping her shirt off causing her bra to be exposed.

"Don't worry, she'll see it all!" she heard her father say as Hiromi held her cheek to stop the stinging pain and watched in horror at what her father was doing to her mother.

She was still fighting but her father overpowered her with his own body and physical strength while pulling her pants off.

He ripped her underwear and her bra off with a swift movement of his hand.

"Shut up, woman," Hiromi heard her father telling her mother after seeing him roughly stick two of his finger in her vagina.

"Mommy," Hiromi whispered as her voice seemed to have been muted before she saw her father dropped his pants and his penis entered into her vagina roughly.

She saw her mother eyes were wide with tears cascading down from her cheek and onto the floor as her father had his way with her mother's body.

Soon her mother scream to the top of her lungs as her father ejaculated into her vagina causing a gallon of white liquid to spurt out on to the floor afterwards.

Her father rose to his feet after removing himself from his wife or her mother's vagina and made his way over to where Hiromi was sitting in the corner.

**{Stop}**

"Darling," her father hovered over her with his shadow when he attempted to reach out and touch her head.

Hiromi cringed away from his touch, "It is alright now, it is over with. Run up to your room and say nothing about what happen tonight."

'_Move…' _she thought to herself but her body seemed as if it was unable to process the thought after seeing what occurred before her very own eyes.

After a couple of minutes she manage to find the willpower to move after staying in that same spot while looking at her mother who looked like a broken porcelain doll along the floor.

She did not hesitate to lock the door behind her once she crossed the threshold of her door, _'I need to leave…' _

Hiromi reached for a red hoodie and placed it on, she removed the duffel bag from underneath her bed and grabbed the rope that sat underneath the bag.

She tied the rope to the end of her bedpost and scaled down the back wall before she gently pulled on the rope causing it to cascade down on the side of her home. She eyed her next destination before running to a line of bushes that hid her escape to freedom.

'_It should be around here…' _She thought to herself before finding an old dog entrance and removed the duffel bag from her shoulders before she kicked it, with the bottom of her feet, open and crawled out.

She turned back and pulled the duffel bag from the opposite of the fence before returning it on to her shoulders

While she roamed the streets the only thing she could feel was the duffel bag slapping against her leg. _'Where can I go?' _

She looked up in the sky before feeling a drop of water graced her forehead, _'Rain?' _


	4. Chapter 4

It was around nine o'clock that Grandpa gave a halt to their kendo practice. _'Its raining?' _Takao thought to himself when he glanced outside to see that it had just started to pour down raining on Tokyo, Japan.

"For some reason when it rains my bones start to stiffen up." Takao recalled the excuse his grandfather used to end their practice early.

'_It is not like I am complaining or nothing…' _he thought to himself but was silently grateful that he was let off the hook since Grandpa was literally murdering him with strikes to the head or the wrists with the shinai.

The sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the quiet house before causing a stir when it brought Takao out of his thoughts.

"Got it," Takao heard his Grandpa announced after he grabbed a wool white towel and placed it over his head.

"Takao, its for you." his Grandpa shouted when it brought Takao once again out of his daze when he began to wonder who would visit him at such an hour with horrible weather outside.

"Alright, I will get it." He told his grandfather when he moved from in front of the house monitor.

Takao saw someone who was soaking wet after standing in the rain with no umbrella at all. He could fairly make out that the mysterious person wore a red jacket with some kind of black writing going across the chest part, they wore some black sweatpants and had a familiar looking duffel bag slung across their shoulder.

'_Do I know this person?' _he thought to himself when he found it strange that a stranger would seek refuge in his home.

He then saw another hint that confirmed that he knew the stranger personally when a small strand of brown hair hung from the hood of the jacket.

"Grandpa, you can open the door. It is a friend of mines." Takao shouted but his Grandfather had the door open already welcoming them into their home.

'_What could she be doing walking around when it is raining cats and dogs outside?' _he asked himself before making his way to the front door.

Takao heard the small talk between the person and his grandfather after he saw the person taking off some running shoes before seeing bare feet with bright red toes that had a plaid design on the big toes.

"Hiromi," He called out to the stranger to see that the person had glanced up at him before reaching up slowly to pull off the hood of the jacket.

Takao saw she had a now swollen jaw when a look of disbelief pass through his face as well as Grandpa when they both began to wonder who would do this to the innocent girl.

There was a momentary silence between the two adolescents when Grandpa decided to speak up and break the quietness.

"You need to get out of those soaking wet clothes before you catch a cold dudette." Takao heard his Grandpa's voice before she looked up at Grandpa now.

She did not verbally respond to Grandpa's statement but Takao understood the look on her face as he had seen it so many times before.

He took that as a hint to show her where their bathroom was when he turned back in the direction he was coming from.

"Hiromi," she heard the elderly man call her name causing her to pause and look at him, "I will leave you in his care. Promise me that you two will not try to kill each other, okay?"

She nodded her head to show that she understood what Grandpa was asking her before she followed Takao all the way to the bathroom before he stopped at the door.

"To turn the shower on you have to push in the knob. If you want it cold turn it all the way to the left and if you want it hot you turn it in the opposite direction." He explained to her how their shower works.

"I'll get you some towels." Takao said before she walked into the bathroom and placed her duffel bag on to the sink.

"Does she think I am that trustworthy for her to come here after whatever might have happened at her house tonight?" Takao asked himself out loud not knowing that Grandpa heard him talking to himself.

'_You still have a lot more to learn about girls, Takao…' _Grandpa thought to himself after hearing his grandson's question.

After he retrieved the towels and made his way back, he made one of the biggest mistakes ever…he forgot to knock or even tell her he was coming in.

The cloud of steam cleared a little before he saw a long scar on the back of Hiromi's back that resembled a dragon. He dropped the towel at the sight before Hiromi turned around to see him in the bathroom along with her.

She blinked and he did the same action when she covered her body with the shower curtain when she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Get out!"

He could have swore he saw her eyes glow a bluish color before he felt some invisible force pushing him out of the bathroom and closing the door at the same time.

Takao's momentum caused him to roll along the wooden floor before he hit his head on the wall and landed funny on his back.

"You peeping tom," he heard his grandfather teasing him when the knot on his head grew while denying the accusation from his grandfather.

_'I should get the bed ready,_' he thought to himself before rubbing his head to soothe the pain while he picked himself up off the ground.

Hiromi stepped into the hot water with a slight blush on her cheeks after what all just happened between her and Takao when her mind had a relapse of what happened to her earlier.

She held herself tightly before she pushed the shower button back in causing the water to turn off. She slowly stepped out of the tub portion of the shower before picking up the towel Takao had dropped when he barged in on her.

_'That stupid mother of mines! She should have just never said anything until he had sobered up!_' she thought before finishing up in the bathroom.

This time Takao waited at the door before hearing the knob clicking when he saw Hiromi was wearing a shirt with long pajama pants covering her legs.

"Um, where can I sleep?" she ask politely which shocked Takao because she would usually be bossy, irritating, annoying, bothersome and on top of that a nagger.

Something seemed off about her but he decide to let it past and enjoy this Hiromi because he did not know how long this nice charade is going to keep up.

"I was just about to show you where you can sleep, just follow me." Takao answered her question.

They both walked in silence as the tension between was still there from when she first stepped into his house soaking wet.

"This is where you will sleep." he told her after pulling back the shoji and revealed a guest room with an already made futon.

"Well good night then," she heard him say when she walked into the room and when she was about to return the salutation she saw that he had turned his back to her and was making his way towards the door.

"Takao," she called out to the boy before he left her to herself.

She was answered with a disgruntle grunt before finishing, "Thank you for your hospitality." she told him before turning to see he had stopped in his tracks.

"Now Hiromi, as much as we been through you don't have to thank me. Besides its always good to have company around my age." Takao said before laughing when an unnoticed blush appeared on her face.

'_As long as he does not feel that I am bothersome…' _She thought to herself before she found herself laughing since his infectious laugh got to her.

The only sound heard after that was the sound of the night after the shoji door closed behind Takao.

Hiromi could not sleep at all and soon busied herself with looking at the ceiling of Takao's guest room. So she busied herself by mentally drawing pictures on the ceilings when she could hear the sounds of snoring through the sliding doors and the sound of Grandpa talking in his sleep made it sound as if he was teaching the best kendo student in the world.

She sat up in her futon bother by all the noise when she felt the ground pulsating under her touch as if it was vibrating.

'_Hiromi…Hiromi…'_ Something was calling to her as on an impulse she ran towards it.

Not knowing that in Takao's room some water from the storm leaked through the ceiling and hit him on his forehead causing him to waking up.

"Ugh stupid ceiling," He silently cursed at it before hearing footsteps and seeing Hiromi shadow running across the shoji that served as his door.

Concerned about her safety he grabbed something to cover him up before he grab some running shoes that were string less courtesy of Rei whenever he would sleepwalk.

_'Thanks Rei these came in handy_,' Takao silently thanked his friend as he followed Hiromi, wherever she was going.

'_It stopped raining…' _he thought when he noticed that it had stopped raining when he felt rain hit.

He made it out in time to see her jump on to his concrete wall with ease and perfect balance and did not even slip or look as if she was going to fall off. She ran westward direction which away from his home direction.

_'I never thought Hiromi could run this fast or could balance herself that well.'_ He thought to himself before he saw her hop onto nearby building rooftops as Takao tried to keep up with her but was easily winded.

"Your…not getting…away that...easily," he huffed out before he caught his breath when he saw that she had stopped on the ledge of a high raised building while looking towards the northwest direction.

'_I wonder what could she be looking at?' _he asked himself before deciding to check out his surroundings.

Takao saw a huge white paw come out of nowhere before revealing a huge white tiger with green strips and glowing green eyes.

"No way!" Takao exclaimed while he was rubbing his eyes to make sure he was not dreaming and that there indeed was, a large white tiger in the middle of the Tokyo district.

'_That looks like Drigger but that can't be Rei's since he is back in China with his team and family.'_ He thought to himself when he felt his blade shaking.

_'I forgot that I had left my pouch on but what is going on,' _he thought before a bluish white light shot out from his blade in the direction of Hilary leaning toward the tiger.

0000

"Ma'am, Seiryu has appeared on our screen, in Tokyo, Japan, and is the first to engage wit a DEAVA," a solider reported in.

"Well then I guess its time for her activation field test, GO, CHOAS!" a feminine voice commanded.

"Activation Code for Azure Dragon: Granted from subject: General Inoue Matsumoto." A computerized voice was heard.

"Good. Keep a track on her and the others just incase they come online as well." the woman, name General Inoue ordered before she mixed some colorful liquid in her glass of cold water.

0000

Takao watched as Hiromi closed her eyes while lifting both of her arms up making a "T" shape before leaning forward to what he assumed she was falling to her death.

_'Oh crap,'_ he thought before he watched as she glowed blue before it disappeared and she landed gracefully on the ground.

"Oh...my…god," Takao said out loud after seeing what Hiromi was now wearing.

Hiromi was clad in a light blue corset like top with silver swirls on it with a blue flared pleated skirt that stopped at her thighs with white lace underneath. She had a shimmer sheer silver fabric wrapped around her waist with two strands of the same fabric hanging behind her and stopped at her knees.

She wore light blue ankle boots that was bounded by a blue strap at her ankles. A golden tiara covered her forehead and matching armbands appeared around her wrists. He noticed her hair grown longer till it touched her shoulder and was styled in a ponytail with the rest of it hanging down. It was no longer chestnut brown colored but rather a silver color now.

Takao remembered that Dragoon had sent out a beam of light towards Hiromi, _'I wonder why that happened?' _

He unhooked his top pouch and pulled out his blade hoping to see Dragoon on its faceplate but it was no longer there anymore. He then looked up and saw that Hiromi materialized a silver scythe and he could have sworn he saw Dragoon's image.

Takao looked up to see the white tiger's paw about to crush him, _'My life can't end here,'_ he thought as he prepared himself for the inevitable but it never came.

"I'm alive, oh I will never harm you again body," he said to himself before checking his body for any injuries when he heard Hiromi speaking to him.

"If you are finish checking your vital signs then I would suggest you precede to a safer place then this." she sounded more like a robot when she told him that.

He looked up to see that a bluish colored barrier that Hiromi put up with the scythe was holding off the tiger's paw.

He had no other choice since he cared at the moment about his life and he was not going to let no oversized kitty take it away from him.

"Be careful, Hiromi." he spoke to her before he picked himself up before she dropped the barrier and hopped back.

"Seiryu, use Kaze Gale Storm, that should stop the DEAVA." she heard some voice say to herself after she avoided the claw slash of the tiger.

'_What is that voice?' _she thought to herself when she found herself closing her eyes so she could tune into the voice.

Hiromi opened her eyes to see that the dragon from her dreams earlier had appeared in front of her with glowing eyes.

'_It seems as if you were able to transform into this form already. I knew I had pick the right person, Tachibana, Hiromi.' _The dragon told to her.

'_Why did you pick me for this kind of power?' _she asked the dragon when she looked down to see what she was wearing.

'_You should worry about that later…I now give you the permission to use my power. Make sure you use it well, Hiromi.' _The dragon told her before disappearing in the darkness.

Takao had looked from around the tree to see that Hiromi was standing still now, when the tiger was about to make its move again.

"Hiromi, move!" he shouted when he held his breath when he saw a gray smoke cloud appear before seeing Hiromi flying backwards avoiding the hit completely.

A loud roar shook the air before the tiger dropped its jaw and a green circular shape with white lines in the shape of lighting appeared around it.

'_This is not good…' _Hiromi thought since she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up due to the electricity.

'_I guess I have no other choice then…_' Hiromi thought when she held the staff in front of her in both hands in a horizontal fashion.

Takao watched as Hiromi allowed the scythe to float on its own before hitting the bottom of the staff causing it to spin.

Wind gust was being produced slowly when the tiger released its attack from it mouth, _'It is going to hit her…'_

'_Faster…' _Hiromi thought when the scythe seemed to hear her thoughts began to spin faster when the sight of wind gust was being produced catching the green ball and shot it back towards the tiger.

Takao had to cover his forearm due to the wind blowing extremely hard and the blinding light, _'Did she do it?' _

He removed his forearm from his vision when he saw Hiromi lying on the ground sleeping peacefully and a gray card with a green tip in the corner in her hands.

A small roar shook the blade when he looked down and saw Dragoon faceplate had returned to him. He decided to pick up Hiromi and take her back home with him since it would be odd to see a teenage girl lying in the middle of the street unmoving in the morning.

_'Was that a dream or did I see her transform.'_ He thought after he retraced his steps back home with a sleeping Hiromi on his back.


	5. Chapter 5

Hiromi woke to the sounds of Grandpa banging pots against one another as a way of waking the sleeping teens.

"Time to wake up you two! You have school this morning!" Grandpa voice was heard over the racket noises.

She sat up slowly so the blood would not rush so quickly to her head while allowing the cover of the futon to pool on her lap.

The door slid up when she looked up to see that Grandpa had stuck his head in, "I see that you are up, that is good…now it is the other one that I have to worry about."

Hiromi could not help but to laugh at his statement before removing herself completely from the futon she was sleeping in.

She looked around and saw her duffel bag tossed in one of the corners of the room, _'That is right…I did run away from home…' _

A brief early morning stretch woke her body out of its night slumber before turning her attention to folding the futon back.

Meanwhile in the other room…

Grandpa was having a difficult time on trying to wake his grandson up from his deep slumber.

Hiromi walked by to see that Grandpa actions did not produce the results that he wanted, _'Wait a minute…I know something that will wake him straight up.' _

Grandpa continued banging the pots but still no success, "He really is a heavy sleeper?"

"3…2…1 Let it Rip!" He saw Takao mimic launching his bey from his launcher before dropping his hands back to the futon.

"He really does love beyblade if he talks about it in his sleep." Grandpa heard Hiromi speak from behind him.

"I have tried everything but it does not seem to be working. Do you have any ideas?" he asked her.

Hiromi pointed to the glass of water she had in her hand, "This works every time. This time he better be lucky that it is not the pail."

She kept her distance since she knew his reaction all to well and often times walked away with a couple of minor injuries from being too close at the wrong time.

Hiromi held her hand up to signal to Grandpa to stand back before she tossed the ice-cold water onto his face and watched, as it seemed to occur in slow motion.

Takao sat up spiting out the water that went into his mouth and wiped his nose since some of it got into his nose.

"What the world!" Takao said after evening out his breathing before looking at who did that too him.

His eyes went from Grandpa to a smiling Hiromi with her eyes closed and the evidence in her right hand and showing no remorse for what she did.

"Care to explain why you pour a cup of ice cold water on my face?" Takao asked while his eyes narrowed in on Hiromi.

"Try not to think about it to hard besides we do have school for the rest of the week or did you forget that?" Hiromi inquired with the smile still evident on her face.

Takao rolled his eyes before feeling his wet face again, "Alright give me ten minutes and I will be ready to go."

"Good, I am sure I can make us something for breakfast." Hiromi told him before she rose to her feet.

Takao saw her place her hand on his grandpa's shoulder while looking at him in the face, "Grandpa, I think we should give him his ten minutes."

He looked at the two weird, _'I wonder when they became cohorts?' _he thought to himself.

1111

"Ma'am the report for the awakening of the Blue Dragon or Seiryuu has just arrived." 2nd Lit. Alma reported directly to General Inoue.

Inoue looked at him before nodding her head to show she understood, "I will assume that it has been detailed to the point that it would seem as if I was there witnessing it for myself."

"Yes, ma'am." Alma answered before producing a remote and pressed the red power button.

The lights in the room that they were in had dimmed down while the glass was covered with metal when a bright light directed her attention to the projector.

"As of 2300 hours of yesterday there was reported DEAVA activity in the Tokyo district. 2335 hours the DEAVA was being confronted by Seiryuu along with a civilian was seen together. 2339 Seiryuu destroyed the DEAVA. This DEAVA was of the earth and lighting element." 2nd Lit Alma repeated verbatim all of the information that was in the report.

"So it seems as if," she paused before Alma pressed the red button again returning the room to normal, "she has been chosen to carry on the eastern deities human form. Good job Hiromi Tachibana."

"Ah, good, my morning tea has arrived, thanks Michelle." Inoue announced before receiving her china cup full of steaming tea.

"Ma'am what would you say would be our next move?" Alma inquired before placing the remote on the table.

"For now we will have to hold off on doing any thing too drastic continue watching her moves and her home." Inoue answered.

"There also seems to be a problem with that request as well." Alma said in a roundabout manner while Inoue placed two sugar cubes in her drink.

"Why would that be a problem?" Inoue asked as she was wondering what her 2nd Lit. was trying to get at.

"Well it seems as if the girl or Hiromi has not return back home since yesterday. There was also something that was strange about her health readings as well." Alma answered.

Inoue blended the sugar in by gently whisking the solid cubes until they dissolved in the drink, "I have been informed about the numerous injuries that that child has acquired from over the years. Am I right to assume that this was what you were going to tell me?"

Alma looked at his high-ranking officer with a strange look on his face, "I would not be me if I did not know anything about my subordinates, now would I? Besides I always run a diagnostics on the girls health."

"I do not mean to step out of my boundaries as an officer but why allow her to go through so much suffering when we could have stepped in?" Alma asked out of his moral beliefs.

Inoue looked up from her drink to see that this topic was affecting him personally, "Trust me 2nd Lit. when have I allowed a child to die on my watch or sensibly beating without a purpose? There is a reason why I did not step in."

"How can you be sure that your decision has not permanently alter the child psyche about others?"

"There will come a time soon that we will liberate her from her upbringing but if we act recklessly now then she will not be fit to wield that power. Besides, I absolute refuse for the end of the world to be my fault." Inoue answered before taking a sip of her drink.

"It needs one more cube…that ought to do it." Inoue spoke to herself after adding the extra cube into her drink.

1111

"So how do you like the toast on the run?" Hiromi asked him once they came to a stop at the crosswalk.

Takao mumbled his answer due to him currently having the piece of toast coated in mixed fruit jam in his mouth.

Hiromi could not help but smile at how he answered the question, "My mom use to do this to me since she would have to walk me to school. She told me that it was something that her mom taught her."

He swallowed the toast whole before releasing a sigh of air, "That was delicious…I should use that more often."

"Good, now it is time to cross." Hiromi told him when his attention turned back to the crosswalk.

"Hey you two," a familiar voice called out to them after the reached the sidewalk when they looked up to see that the voice belonged to Kenny.

"Hey Chief, I see you are up and moving this morning." Takao joked with his brunette male friend.

"Chief, how are you doing this morning?" Hiromi asked in a polite manner.

"Of course we do have school and I am doing good." Kenny managed to lump all their questions into his one answer.

"Well then we better hurry up or we are gong to be late?" Hiromi reminded them before heading towards their destination.

Takao looked around at his surroundings when he remembered that he was here last night.

'_There are no holes or scars on the ground. Did I dream of the whole thing last night?' _He thought to himself when he saw the building where Hiromi nearly plummeted to her death.

'_No…for some reason it feels as if I know it has happened.' _He thought before looking over at Hiromi to see she was staring ahead of her.

He felt Dragoon vibrate when he realized that Hiromi was now looking at him, "Are you there, Takao?"

He shook his head to clear the thoughts out of his head, "I was just daydreaming that's all."

"You know that it is going to get you in some type of trouble, Takao." Hiromi forewarn him.

"You make it sound like doom and gloom for me. It is good to have an over active imagination it shows that I am creative." Takao said while rebuttal her statement with his own prediction.

"You know Hiromi, Takao does have a good point. People with active imagination tend to be more creative or artistic than others." Kenny chimed in on to their conversation.

Hiromi looked back at Kenny after his statement before looking back at Takao and back ahead of her.

"It looks as if I am outnumbered on this subject. I have no other choice but to fold my hand." Hiromi answered while looking ahead so she would not bump into people.

"If it isn't my favorite trio of loser…" a voice was heard when they turned down the street of where their school was located.

Hiromi rolled her eyes after hearing the voice speaking to them since she knew from the nickname they were called who it was.

"What do you want this time, Mazurka? We do have school in a couple of minutes and you are holding us up."

The boy name Mazurka looked at Hiromi, "You seem to be quite chatty this morning, and usually it is Takao who would have said something to me."

"It is not like that is every going to change." Takao answered the boy as if following their daily routine schedule.

"Look Mazurka we only have a couple of days left in the week before school is official out. Can we at least end it on a good note?" Hiromi cut the boy off before he could respond to Takao's statement.

Mazurka looked at the brunette haired girl before deciding to step aside allowing them to pass right by him.

"See you losers around some other time." He slipped in before walking in the same direction before taking a different way to school.

"I would say the same for you but that would make me seem like the nice guy this time." Takao said over his shoulder.

Hiromi gently punched his arm, "Ouch, that really did hurt Hiromi. What did you do that for?"

"I just save our necks by sticking my neck out for all three of us and you continue to attack him. Care to explain that to me, Takao?" Hiromi explained why she had hit him.

Takao face had a look of shock after hearing what Hiromi just told him.

"She does have a point though Takao," Kenny or the voice of reason spoke up between the two.

"Ah come on Chief, one minute you were on my side then you want to change up on me now?" Takao asked while facing his friend.

"I mean think about it from a rational point of view, Hiromi just saved us from Mazurka even though he is harmless then a fly…still we would have been late if it was not for her." Kenny answered with his hands up in a innocent manner.

Takao looked over to see that Hiromi continued to stand her ground on the situation, "Well it is two against one so I am jut going to drop it."

He placed his hands in his pockets before turning away from them and walking ahead towards their homeroom.

Hiromi and Kenny watched as Takao entered their homeroom and closed the door back shut. "He is such a child…throwing a temper tantrum over Mazurka! I swear, Chief, I just don't get him sometimes."

Kenny looked up at Hiromi, "I am sure he will come around on his own. You of all people know how Takao is when it comes down to Mazurka."

Hiromi stared at where Takao just entered, "Yeah, that is one thing you are right about. I know how much he dislikes Mazurka. He just never told me why."

"Now that is something that he told me about. I am sure you will figure it out sooner or later." Kenny told her.

'_I wonder why he does not like Mazurka?' _ Hiromi thought to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

Hiromi and Kenny, both entered into their homeroom class and found Takao was already fast asleep on his desk.

"Chief, I do believe that that is a new record for Takao." Hiromi joked after seeing him fast asleep.

Kenny shook his head in disbelief at Takao before taking his respective seat which was a couple of seats towards the front of the class.

"Alright class come in and settle down, we have a lot to discuss this morning." Their teacher announced after seeing the students pile in to the class and took their respective seats.

Hiromi took her seat at the front of the class along with the other academic scholars in the class and await for the morning announcements from their teacher.

'_I wonder what I saw last night really happened to me?' _she thought to herself when she allowed herself to recall the memory.

"As you all know we only have the rest of this week left in the school year before your summer break starts. So in the meantime we will be preparing ourselves for your finals." Their teacher announced to the class.

'_The tiger, the lighting, the wind and the clothes.' _ Hiromi recalled what she saw from last night.

This caused groans from the back of the classroom, "I know, I know, that that is something we all do not want to do but if you want to spend another year in here with me then my suggestion for you is to fail."

Hiromi could hear all the students protested at what they heard before she calming down the students, "So if you all need to spend a little extra time then I will stay and help those who need it.

'_That dragon…looked familiar to me…' _Hiromi recalled how the dragon looked before deciding to compare it to Takao's Dragoon.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Takao was still fast asleep and could not help but to shake her head in disbelief at her close friend actions.

'_I wonder why he does not like Mazurka? I just thought…' _her thoughts were cut when knocking was heard on the door.

Their teacher looked to her right before facing her homeroom students again. "We will start after I come back."

0000

"Bring me up on each and every one of the girls, there is something that I have to check out." General Inoue ordered one of her subordinates.

The solider she commanded quickly typed away at the keys of their computer before bringing up the information she wanted to see.

Inoue eyes scan over the four girls that were in front of her, _'Three inactive and one active.' _

"Well then we can only check on one of them for now, bring up Seiryuu information for me." Inoue issued out the next of her orders. _'There is something that is bothering me.'_

"Hiromi Tachibana" was the name that graced the screen as well as a image of the brown haired teen girl staring back at her.

"All of her functions are working properly that is good to see, pull up any medical reports or issues concerning Ms. Tachibana." Inoue ordered as she waited to see if her hunch was correct.

A replica of Hiromi's body was pictured before it turned blue and red lines and boxes appeared with warnings on it.

"It seems as if she has suffered from numerous and various injuries with her body. A sprain left ankle and a fractured right ankle, broken fingers, sprain wrist, a shoulder injury, and the latest is a black eye. Along with stitches that was required for other injuries." The solider reported to Inoue after reading the information off the screen.

'_So what 2__nd__ lieutenant told me was correct…' _she thought before hearing the solider break her train of thoughts.

"Ma'am there is another one, this one is worse then the others that I have just read on the screen."

Inoue wondered what else could be worse for the girl pictured in front of her to go through, "There is this long scar that starts from her right shoulder bone to her tailbone of her back. Reports claim that she had lost a good amount of blood before they could stitch her up."

"Thank you, you have done your job will. Contact 2nd lieutenant Alma and tell him to report to my office." Inoue commanded before turning around to make her way towards her office.

'_It seems as if an intervention is called for…' _she thought before taking the elevator up.

0000

Hiromi was focused on the picture that she was drawing in front of her when Ms. Kincaid came back into the room.

"Hiromi, can you come here for me?" Ms. Kincaid asked her in a whispered tone before making her rounds of the classroom to make sure every one was doing what she told them.

She placed her drawing back in her bag before making her way towards the front of her classroom door, for some reason she looked for Takao, to only find him still sleeping.

When she made it outside of the classroom Ms. Kincaid gave another look in on her class before slightly closing the door.

"Is there something wrong Ms. Kincaid? I assure you that if you tell me what it is I can handle it." Hiromi stated out of fear of being in trouble.

"Oh no, you are not in trouble Hiromi." She quickly told the girl after hearing her question directed towards her.

Hiromi let out a sigh with her hand over her chest, "You know you should not scare me like that Ms. Kincaid it is not good for a young girl's health."

Ms. Kincaid had a smile on her face after hearing Hiromi's statement, "I wanted to tell you that you have been selected by the teachers to speak for the promotional exercise at the end of the week."

Hiromi eyes went wide after hearing what Ms. Kincaid just told her, "I would be honor Ms. Kincaid, when do I need to submit my draft to you?"

"Do you think you can get it to me by tomorrow afternoon? If I am not in my class then I would be in the teachers office." Ms. Kincaid informed Hiromi.

"Sure you just made my day, Ms. Kincaid." Hiromi answered before making their way back into the classroom.

0000

"2nd Lieutenant Alma," Inoue address the young man in front of her as she sat at the table with her daily cup of tea in front of her.

"Yes, General Inoue," the man addressed her by her respected title.

"The issue that we address earlier has been brought back into my observation once again. It seems as if the report that we received has been pretty accurate. I did a little more digging on the problem and it is server then I thought." Inoue answered with solemn tone.

He was surprised at what the general told him, _'So she really did look into it? I am surprised.'_

"I had a solider pull up any and every medical document on Tachibana Hiromi even if she had a prick on her finger." Inoue responded after not hearing Alma answer to her previous statement.

"I know this sounds like a unintelligent question since you plan on answering it but what did you find?" Alma inquired on the information she gathered.

"There is a substantial amount of bruises and injuries that she has had after we allowed them to acquire her. Why was this information not brought to me in the beginning?" Inoue questioned.

"Her observers did not find anything suspicious at the time before witnessing a confrontation between her father and mother. Also they claim that they grew troublesome after seeing how she had a black eye, which was covered by an eye patch." Alma answered with what he recalled from Tachibana's watchers.

"When can we create an intervention for this young girl?" Inoue quickly cut to the point of why she called him in.

'_Is she really planning an intervention? She is serious about this too…_' Alma thought with some doubt lingering in his head about his general's actions.

"You just recently deployed the squad responsible for that a couple of days ago. They are due back within a day or so." Alma answered her question.

Inoue sat back for a while before thinking to herself, "Wait a minute, I will give _him _just one more day and see where that takes us from there."

A red light was seen blinking multiple times before a voice over an intercom was heard, "Ma'am another DEAVA has appeared."

0000

The school day seemed to run by a little faster for Hiromi after hearing the good news from Ms. Kincaid.

'_I can not believe that they want me to speak for the promotional exercise at the end of the week.' _ Hiromi thought to herself before she looked down to see her lined paper filled with various doodles.

She tapped her pencil against the paper out of boredom, _'Did Ms. Kincaid really have to make today solely for studying? I am getting bored over here.' _

Hiromi scanned her surroundings to see that her classmates were really using their time to cram for their studies.

'_If they were to do the work in the beginning of the school year then they would not have to worry so much in the end.' _ Hiromi thought to herself when she turned back to her drawings.

She let out a sigh of boredom seeing as she did not have anything to do, _'I wish something would happen…'_

A loud blaring noise was heard snapping her out of her thoughts when she glanced up to witness Ms. Kincaid grabbing her attendance book from her desk.

"I forgot to mention to you all, that this morning we will have a mandatory fire drill today. So will everyone line up in an orderly fashion and make sure to stay close to me at all times." Ms. Kincaid shouted loud enough for her entire class to hear her instructions.

Hiromi followed her class as she managed to secure a spot towards the rear of the line along with Kenny and a now awoken Takao.

"So how was your slumber Princess?" Hiromi inquired in a teasing tone after seeing Takao rubbing his eyes so he could fully wake up.

"Since you want to know so badly it was wonderful, Hiromi." He answered while falling in line with the rest of his classmates.

While they were making their way down to the primary floor, Hiromi felt familiar vibrations coming from the ground with every step she took.

'_It is the same feeling that I had from last night.' _She thought to herself when she glanced back and forth rapidly to see where it could be originating from.

She remained quiet so no one would know that she was planning to break away from the crowd, _'It feels like it is coming from the opposite direction.'_

"What do you think about that Hiromi? Hiromi…" Takao asked when he peeked over his shoulder to see her reaction but he no longer saw her.

Takao quickly turned to get the attention of his close friend, Kenny, but he had already left Takao to himself.

'_Just great it seems as if I am on my own again.' _He thought to himself before catching Hiromi turning a corner, _'The only thing down there is the gym.' _

Hiromi found that the vibrations took her to her final destination, which was coming from none other than her...school gym.

'_What could possibly be in here?' _she thought to herself when something within her felt wrong about what was going on in the gym.

"So it seems as if I finally will be able to have a meal today?" A voice spoke when she directed her attention towards the ceiling of the gym.

A gust of wind caused Hiromi to cover her forearm with her hand when she removed it from in her front of her eyes.

'_What the world is that?' _she asked herself inwardly when she came in to contact of a woman that look to have wings for her arms and talons for her feet.

"I guess it must be my lucky day since I get to have my meal walking straight to me." Hiromi heard the thing speak to her.

The bird woman was now propped up on the bleachers rail of the gym before flashing her wings at Hiromi, "I am sorry but I do not plan on becoming someone's meal today."

"You speak as if you have some kind of power to stop me from enjoying myself?" the bird woman asked her.

'_What could I be thinking? It is not like a superhero or something so why am I still standing here? Could it be out of fear?' _thoughts were rushing through Hiromi's mind.

"I think I have given you enough time already to have your final thoughts. Now it is time for me to fill my urges of hunger." The bird woman spoke while flapping her wings creating wind gusts in the process.

'_What can I do now?' _she thought after moving a couple of inches back from her original spot that she was in.

The bird woman locked her wings to her side and in a rocket like fashion took off towards her meal with anticipation.

'_Of all the times for me to move why can't I duck?' _Hiromi thought to herself when her eyes locked in on to the bird of prey.

'_What can I do?' _she repeated a previous thought to herself.

"Subject: SEIRYUU Activation Code: CHOAS"


	7. Chapter 7

The bird woman was sent flying back into the stands after colliding with what felt like she ran into a rubber wall or something.

"Ugh, what are you child?" the bird woman asked Hiromi after regaining her composure and vision.

Hiromi did not immediately answer the creature's question instead stared at her intently, "I am sorry to disappoint you but I do not plan on being someone's meal today."

The bird woman looked in disbelief at what the girl just told her, "You know you should learn to respect your elders, child."

"Hiromi, where are you?" A voice could be heard calling out the girl's name when the bird woman began to flap her wings again causing her to take flight in the gymnasium.

"Oh, it seems as if someone else will become my next meal then." The bird woman announced when the sight of Takao entered her vision.

Hiromi saw that the bird woman placed her wings directly behind her, which meant that she was going to dive in on Takao, who was not aware of the potential danger around him.

"Takao!" She manage to get his attention before giving out another fast command.

"Get down!" Hiromi shouted to him before tossing her staff at the bird woman when she took off knocking her off of her pathway of descent.

Takao fell hard to the gym floor while rolling over in time, just barely dodging the woman's talons in time, "Okay, what is that thing!"

The bird woman cawed at him before proclaiming, "It is impolite to point your fingers at a lady such as myself."

"As if, you freak of nature!" Takao shouted at her while continuing to hold his finger out at the woman.

"Well then, children must be punished for their insolence." the bird woman said while covering her lower face with her wing.

"Thanks for being a savior and covering up that hideous face of yours." Takao responded while fake applauding not realizing what the bird woman was doing.

Hiromi saw that the woman's feather wing tips transformed to metal and with a swipe of her wing she sent multiple daggers towards Takao.

'_No one is being injured on my watch…' _Hiromi thought to herself before reaching out for her staff, which laid beside Takao.

Takao saw something enter his vision when he noted that it was Hiromi's staff, _'A barrier…' _

He noted that the five metal daggers that were aimed at him hit the barrier instead and seemed as if they were going to break through. "Uhm, Hiromi, I am to young to die!"

"If it is your life that you are scared of losing than your life will not be intact if you are not silent. So allow me to concentrate then this would be a much smoother process." Hiromi spoke to him before appearing next to his side.

The bird woman watched in disappointment at how Hiromi was able to deflect her attack from hitting her prey. "I have plenty more where those come from."

"Just great," Hiromi stated before grabbing Takao's hand and ran from their current spot where three more daggers were implanted on the surface of the ground.

They manage to hide underneath some unharmed bleachers, "You can not continue to harass the enemy or their strength will be increased by their rage. That is simply combat rules as a solider."

Takao gave Hiromi a bizarre look on his face, "Are you sure you are that same bossy Hiromi that hassle me about how I am lazy and no good?"

Hiromi placed an index finger to her lips signaling for Takao to be quiet while crutching closer to the bleachers so they would not be spotted by the flying harpie.

"I know you two are around here somewhere, so come on out so we can keep playing." The harpy announced while flying around the entire gym but still no sight of them.

"You could have been over there where those three feathered shape daggers are because of your mouth. Stay hidden right here and I will appear out from the opposite side of the bleachers, do you understand me?" Hiromi ran through the battle plan for the duo.

Takao found himself agreeing to the terms, _'It is not like I have a choose since it is my life we are talking about here.' _

"Hey you ugly excuse for a woman and bird hybrid! I am over here!" Hiromi shouted from her current position while waving her arms for added effects.

"How dare you insult me like that!" the bird woman shouted before repeating the action of locking her wings behind her back before descending.

'_Alright 3…2…1…Jump!' _Hiromi thought to herself when she saw the bird woman nearing her.

She leapt and landed on the back of the bird woman forcing her into the floor of the gym, '_Amazing'_

"You really think I would go down that easily?" The woman asked her after removing herself from the ground.

"Okay, definitely not good." Hiromi said out loud instead of keeping it within her thoughts and took off in a sprint away from the winged human.

'_What is Hiromi doing?' _he thought to himself after seeing the woman rise and was now flying towards Hiromi direction.

"What are you going to do now child? You are backed into a corner with nowhere to go? What are you to do?" the woman asked while enclosing the distance in between her and Hiromi.

"Hey bird brain I am over here!" Takao shouted once he jumped out from underneath the bleachers.

'_What is he doing?' _she thought while mentally slapping herself when she saw the woman had turned her attention away from her and on to him instead.

'_I am not fast enough to get to her…I do not want Takao to die.' _ Hiromi thought desperately to herself as she felt as if she was running in slow motion.

0000

"Ma'am Seiryuu has activated her flight mode, shall I switch to the gym camera?" a solider announced to General Inoue.

"Grant permission seeing as the enemy is capable of flight puts her at a disadvantage if she continues to stay on the ground." Inoue issued out the order.

The message that appeared across the screen was this "FLIGHT MODE FOR SEIRYUU: CONFIRMED"

0000

'_Well then take flight then…' _a voice instructed her when something white caught her sights but returned her attention to Takao and his safety.

Takao had braced himself for whatever impact that the woman planned for him but it did not come at all.

He blinked in disbelief before his vision cleared when he saw Hiromi had grabbed the bird woman by her shirt. _'Are those wings?' _

"Who are you child?" the bird woman asked while trying to break free from Hiromi's strong grip but only struggled in vain.

"My name should not matter to you…" Hiromi proclaimed to her before flying and spinning upward before tossing her into the other side of the bleachers.

The bird woman was slow to rise to her feet pushing debris off of her body when she glanced up to see what appeared to be a hurricane directed at her.

'_I can block that pity attack with my wing.' _She thought to herself with confidence when she tried to shield herself with her wing.

'_What the?' _she looked down after not seeing her wing budge to cover her face. She saw her wing was trapped underneath the debris of the bleachers.

Hiromi ceased her attack when she no longer felt any movements before holding the staff straight up by her side. "She is gone civilian. You can come out now."

Takao had hid himself again after seeing Hiromi was planning to use that attack when he observed her flying over to where the bird woman disappeared.

'_White wings huh?' _he thought when his eyes fell onto a pair of beautiful white wings that reminded him of something that only a divine creature, or an angel, would have.

"Is there something wrong? Did you acquire any type of injuries civilian?" she turned her attention to the young man in front of her after acquiring the gray card with a blue colored corner.

He did not immediately answer which prompted Hiromi to fly where Takao was standing before feeling woozy.

"Whoa there," he told her after catching Hiromi mid-air within in his arms when a white light emitted from her body reverting her back to her regular form.

Takao looked down at Hiromi who seemed to be sleeping peacefully as if what just occurred did not happen at all.

'_What am I going to do with you?' _he thought before deciding to catch back up with the class.

0000

"Is everyone here?" Ms. Kincaid inquired while glancing down and forth at her attendance list and her students under her care.

Kenny scanned the area but still there was no sign of Takao nor Hiromi, _'Where could they be?'_

"Anybody seen Takao or Hiromi?" Ms. Kincaid asked the million-dollar question which caused Kenny to inwardily panic.

He shifted his gaze back and forth while trying to think of a plan, _'I could fake like I am Takao but Hiromi…ugh this is so hard.'_

Before he could enact his plan, two heres were heard from behind him, "Sorry about that Ms. Kincaid, we got lost in the crowd."

Kenny turned around to see a smiling Takao along with Hiromi by his side, a sigh of relief escaped his mouth. "Do you know how close you two were on being found out by Ms. Kincaid?"

Takao checked on Hiromi who was slowly coming too, "Hey there are you alright?"

The pair watched as their brown haired friend brought her hand to her head, "What happened? Where are we?"

'_This is like from the first time she changed. She could not remember anything that she did.' _ Takao thought to himself as he made a mental note about that.

Kenny exchanged a weird look on his face that was directed towards Takao who just returned a look of confusion as well.

"We just had a fire drill thats why we are outside of the school. Do you remember that much?" Takao filled her in on why they were outside.

'_Something is not right…' _she thought to herself when she scanned the area when she noticed that a familiar green truck was parked in the parking lot.

'_That can't be the same van that was outside of my house before I left…could it?' _she thought to herself before seeing a janitor make his way over to the van and opened up revealing trash.

'_It was the trash men no wonder they were outside of my house…' _she thought to herself feeling dumb for being suspicious about the trash men who were doing their job.

When she redirect her attention to those who were standing in front of her with looks of concern on their face, Takao and Kenny.

"Yes after that it feels as if I have a headache." Hiromi answered as best as she could which cause Takao to nod his head to show that he understood.

"Alright class we were just given the go ahead to head back inside of the school. Make sure you stay in a single file line and with me." Ms. Kincaid announced loud enough so her class could hear their instructions.

The class followed their teacher's instruction and moved in a single file line making their way back into the school building.

0000

"Ma'am the DEAVA has been deactivated and retrieved to our archives." A woman reported in after checking the screen of the computer.

'_A harpie, eh?' _Inoue thought to herself after they witness Seiryuu's power against the harpie DEAVA via live feed.

"So it seems as if there is still no response from the others…continue to maintain surveillance on Seiryuu. Inform me of any changes whether they are minimal, do you understand?" Inoue gave her orders to her battalion.

"Yes ma'am." she received a unified answer from the soldiers that were under her direct control.

She made her way from the control panel and back into the elevator that would take her to her personal office.

"Ma'am, the squad just report in saying that they are just a day's travel away from headquarters." Her 2nd lieutenant relayed the message on to his general once she entered the elevator.

"Good. Notify me when they step foot on headquarters grounds if not have them report to me directly and stop for no one no matter what the reason is." Inoue issued Alma his personal orders.

"You can count on me, ma'am." He responded to her orders for him as the two waited for the elevator to arrive at their destination.

'_I want to be able to handle this situation as soon as possible if not then my reputation would be on the line.' _She thought to herself about the minor obstacle that she will have handle in a minute.

0000

Grandpa was sweeping the walkway when he remembered that he had not check the mail recently.

'_How can I forget something that important?' _He thought to himself before pausing in his sweeping and made his way to the front of his house.

When he opened the slot a letter fell from it when he notice who was the sender, _'I wonder how long was this in there.' _


	8. Chapter 8

The final bell was heard signaling to the students that there was only four more days left in the week to where they have to wake up early to attend school.

Hiromi was in no hurry to leave the school and even waited until the crowd of students thinned out allowing for easy access to move about.

"Are you ready to go home?" she heard someone ask her when she glance up to see that it was none other then Takao who asked her that.

'_How could I forget…I ran away from home.' _ She thought to herself when reality caught back up to her.

'_I wonder how mom is holding up in that hell hole?' _she asked herself allowing her a brief moment to worry about her mother's safety while she remain at her abusive husband side.

She saw a hand in her sights waving in an up and down manner when she saw the hand was connected to Takao's arm.

"You zoned out again." He told her as he noted that it was her second time today doing that.

"Sorry about that, yeah I am ready to go home. Where did Chief go?" Hiromi inquired about Kenny presence since she did not see him standing next to Takao or waiting at the door for them.

"He said he had to go straight home to do some more maintenance on some more blades but he will back to monitoring our training soon." Takao answering while moving out of the way so Hiromi could stand up.

"Is that so? Well the Chief sure does like to keep busy." Hiromi responded after hearing what Kenny plans were for this afternoon.

"Can you even imagine it? That Chief with a day off…" Takao posed causing Hiromi to laugh at his inquiry.

"Even he can have a personal life, Takao." She said after laughing.

"If you say so Hiromi but I still stick to what my gut is saying about the Chief." Takao responded before they filed out of their classroom.

After walking downstairs they made their way to their respective lockers to retrieve their shoes and return their slippers in their lockers.

Takao was the first to spot Mazurka distinctive purple hair color waiting with his back propped against a rectangular shape column.

"I was starting to think that you two were ignoring me." Mazurka spoke up after seeing Takao and Hiromi scale down the stairs together.

"Well if it isn't for my favorite thorn in my side." Takao greeted the boy with irritation evident in his tone.

Mazurka pushed his back off the column turning his whole entirely body to face Takao. "So Takao, how long do you plan on holding out?"

Hiromi curiosity was peaking after hearing what Mazurka just asks Takao, who seem to know what he was referring to.

"As long as I want to, obviously you have not gotten through your thick skull yet." Takao rebuffed with a smile on his face.

"You are going to let that guard down and then I will be there to claim it." Mazurka warned Takao.

'_What could those two be arguing about?' _she thought to herself unaware that Mazurka stole a glance in her direction.

"So why don't you run along home and if I catch you here again then there will be problems." Takao issued the threat towards the purple haired boy in front of him.

"Humph" and with that Mazurka took his leave of the locker area with Takao watching his retreating back until he left the school grounds.

"Wow that was intense, what were you two arguing about?" Hiromi asked Takao, who simply ignored the question and made his way to his locker.

'_It must be something important if just ignored me like that.' _She thought to herself when she saw him remove the slippers from his feet and placed his sneakers out onto the floor.

As she was forming the question in her head, she decided that it would be best to leave it only since Takao looked visibly upset.

Instead she mimics his actions and secured her shoes by tying her shoestrings tight and rose to her feet.

'_The least I can do is try and distract his mind…wait I got it.' _Hiromi thought inwardly after formulating a plan to cheer Takao up.

"Hey what are you in the mood for eating tonight?" Hiromi asked him once they made their way out onto the school's courtyard.

Takao glanced over at Hiromi with a smile on his face, "I want some Curry Rice!"

Hiromi mentally fell on her face but instead she return the smile and a nod of her head, "Well then we need to stop by the grocery story now don't we?"

That seemed to just wipe all of Takao's problems away with the mentioning of food, _'It is the least that I could do.' _

0000

Grandpa had finished sweeping the floor of his home and dojo when he looked up and saw Hiromi with Takao's book bag in her hands while he balance paper groceries bags within his two arms.

"So what is in the bag, you two?" Grandpa asked, as he was silently glad that they bought groceries home since they were running low.

"I notice that the refrigerator was running low this morning so I decided to buy some groceries. I hope you do not mind?" Hiromi stated while Grandpa peeped in the bags full of produce.

"Oh its no problem you just took care of that chore for me. I have been putting that off for a while now and made Takao eat nothing but ramen from a Styrofoam cup."

"Is that so…" Hiromi stated as it now made sense as to why their trash was overflowing with those plastic cups.

"You don't have to worry about microwaving anything tonight I am cooking some Curry Rice." Hiromi told the elder Kinoyama.

His eyes sparkled with delight at the thought of consuming real food, "Can you add a little spice to mines? I don't like mild curry its too bland with no flavor."

Hiromi nodded her head to show that she will remember what Grandpa wanted, "Oh and before I forget a letter came and it is address to you, Takao."

"Let me put the groceries in the kitchen and then you can hand it to me." Takao told his grandfather his plan.

"Hiromi," Grandpa caught her attention before she made her way into the house.

"You can stay here as long as you need to okay? I don't mind having company and neither does Takao even if he doesn't admit it to your face." Grandpa told her in a serious tone, which caused Hiromi to nod her head in a yes manner.

"So while you are here take good care of Takao for me." He finished before leaving her where she was.

'_I truly do have a good friend.' _She thought to herself with a small smile on her face.

0000

'_I wonder how long will the other three be offline for?' _Inoue thought to herself as she looked at a blue computer screen that had four rectangular shape boxes.

"Seiryuu" was in white bold letters with a red box underneath with the word "ONLINE" in white as well.

She leaned back in her seat allowing a deep sigh to release from her mouth, _'I really need to get this together.' _

A hologram appeared from the center of her desk causing her to straighten up in the process, "Colonel, what can I do for you today?"

"General Inoue, I have personally called in to check on the progress on the DEAVA project." The man clad in a green military uniform with a muscular frame, brown eyes and short orange hair spoke to her.

'_Just great…I thought I would have at least till another day for this.' _She thought to herself before responding with, "There is only one of them online at the moment and recently eliminated two DEAVAS from her area single handily."

The man in front of her seemed unfazed by the news, "How long until the other three comes online?"

"That sir is something out of our control. It solely depends on if the girls come into contact with their respective deity and then they have to pass a test. So placing it on a time table would be completely nonsense." Inoue reported to her higher up.

From the look apparent on his face, he did not like the answer that she supplied him with, "You have two weeks for another one of them to come online or we will pull the funding on that project. Do you understand that General Inoue?"

"Yes sir, I understand." She confirmed to what the older man told her, as she silently could not wait till he disappeared as the hologram.

"Now that we are on the same platform…that is all." He told her before cutting the link causing the hologram to disappear in the process.

'_If it doesn't follow their time schedule they always threaten us with pulling the funding of the project.' _She thought in anger causing her to hit the screen in frustration when she saw a red box appear over one of the girls.

Inoue eyes grew big when she saw the words "AWAKENING" appear over the second box, which caused a smile to appear on her face.

'_So much for cutting our funds…father.' _She thought with a wide smile on her face.

0000

Hiromi ran some tap water over her hands after pulling her hair into a short ponytail when she heard the refrigerator open and close.

"Was it a love letter from a secret admirer?" She asked in a teasing tone when she turned to face him with a small smile on her face.

"No, it was from Rei." Takao answered after seeing Hiromi make her way over to the groceries she told him to leave out for her.

"Oh," she paused in what she was doing after hearing a good friend of theirs name, "So what did he want?"

"He said he was coming into town, you know for the blading competition and he wanted to see if I progressed or not in my training." He answered while she took out some meat for the curry.

"So when does he plan on arriving here?" Hiromi asked when she found the bag of rice on the other side of the bag.

"The letter was written a couple of weeks back so he might be coming in a couple of days but I wonder what he is doing?"

0000

East of Japan and in the rural part of China

The sounds of the native birds seem to harmonize with each other creating a melody with a soft trotting rhythm that combine with the sunrays trying to peak through the wool curtain.

"Princess, your father has requested you to breakfast." A stern voice spoke over the sleeping girl, who had rubbed her eyes before looking out of the window.

"I'm sorry Daisha, I was just enjoying the sounds of birds this morning." The sleeping girl apologizes as she rose the upper part of her body before rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"What time is it?" a yawn escapes her lips when she asked her question.

"It's almost noon, what am I going to do with you Princess Lei?" her maid name Daisha answered.

"Are those new clothes that Father sent me?" the girl name Lei questioned about the folded clothes that Daisha delivered and placed on the side of her bed.

"Yes and a verbal message: Don't go out and explore planning to go see Maiko and her kids." Daisha repeated verbatim.

"So we finally go get to see jie jie again! I'm so excited!" Lei exclaimed as she clasped her hands together with a genuine grin on her face.

"You do remember what happen the last time? You and her bumped heads more than once the last time." Daisha answered her own question.

"Why that is not my nature, I have forgiven her. After all when you have an aunt your age then it takes a little longer to warm up to." Lei stated her viewed opinion on the subject.

"Always the calm leaf that rides the current of life, Princess. Let's get started we do not want to delay not one minute." Daisha had clapped her hands twice, which was a normal routine for her as that was the signal that she had a task that she was going to complete no matter what.

"Oh I like the color green!" Lei stated as se held up the same green vest in her hand before placing it on top of a white shirt.

The skirt seem to layer off one another producing a ripple effect, golden slippers with green ornaments was to adorn her feet, which was well acquainted with the ground.

After all she loved to sneak out the house so she could explore her beautiful and majestic surroundings that China had to offer her. Besides the emptiness of the castle and Daisha's presence was not enough to hold her interests anymore.

"Lei-sama, Lei-sama, you are daydreaming again aren't you?" Daisha questioned when she saw "that" look on Lei's face.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **I will be using the character's Japanese names so if you see Rai (Lee), Mao (Mariah), Kiki (Kevin), Gao (Gary). I know that their will be some confusion between Rai, Rei and Lei so please try and stick with it.

0000

"No, I'm just thinking what do I want to cook when we come home tonight." Daisha heard Lei's answer to her question as she adjusted the skirt portion of her outfit.

"You will be spending the night there for about three days, the Emperor calls it his emotional-free vacation from work so he can spend time with his family." Daisha informed Lei as she placed her shoes on her feet.

"That's splendid! I get to spend some quality time with my nieces and nephews. I'm glad dad's taking a beak. After all he's been cramped up in his room for the past three weeks swamped in paperwork." Lei said in a tone of relief.

"I wonder who is going to be his successor? After all he is getting older and older each day, if it's my opinion, it should not be Xin or Maiko."

"Maiko is happy with her kids that she should not be pulled into politics." Lei added in on what Daisha was talking about.

"We can only worry about that when its time but what I do plan on dong is enjoying my time with my family." Lei flipped the subject from politics back to family.

"Well then what are you waiting for?" Daisha questioned as Lei thanked her maid before running downstairs to see that her father was waiting for her.

"Lei, come on," he said in a teasing manner as he gestured with his hand towards the carriage that was waiting for the both of them.

"Okay father," Lei said with a small smile on her face as she needed no aid into climbing in carriage.

"You know it seems as if every time I take this trip I have another grandchild on the way. I wonder if Maiko would have another boy?" Lei herd her father asked himself as he had a daze look on his face.

"I'm glad that she is healthy. After all it seems as if she gets stronger after each pregnancy so I believe that she can lift mules if she want to now." She answered after the carriage began to move forward.

"I am happy that you decided to accept m incitation to go to Maiko's for three days of retreat. Since it seems that one of my grandchildren bumped heads the last time we were there." Her father said before he shifted himself into a comfortable position on the cushioned seat.

"Daisha, quizzed me already and I told her that, she was upset that she has to call someone her aunt who is around her age. She is just another leaf on the torrent water of life." Lei repeated what she told Daisha before she left while adding in a line Daisha told her.

The sound of her father's deep yet soothing laugh caught her attention, "So wise beyond your years, you'll give a young man quite the run for their money."

A blush appeared across her cheeks as the compliment caught her off guard as she decided to take an interest in the scenery, _'I wonder what he meant by that?' _Lei thought to herself.

After some hours of watching the changing scenery that her homeland had to offer Lei grew ecstatic when she noticed a familiar bend in the road.

It signaled that they were almost there-to-there final destination and mistakenly woke her father due to her excitement.

"It seems that we have arrived." He said when Lei could hear his voice was filled with quiet happiness.

Lei saw the double level house with purple shingles with golden gutter pipes. The house was a white wash color with a little hint of beige making it appear darker than white. The windows were open on the first floor when the aroma of food traveled into their carriage, which aroused their sense of smell and hunger.

"Just like your mother's famous Gyoza buns." Her father said as the carriage came to a slow as the rocky dirt surface changed to a semi-paved road.

"Oh, Pai-lee, must have finished the road awhile back." Her father stated as they felt the carriage veer right and then came to a halt at what was the front entrance of the house..

Lei could hear the men unhook their luggage from the top of their carriage and in a train fashion pass the luggage down until it reached floor level.

She then noticed a tuff of pink hair stick out from one of the windows before quickly disappearing back inside.

"Isn't Maiko expecting us?" Lei questioned her father as she saw the door being opened and she stood up from her seated position and made her way out of the carriage.

"Ni Hao, how are you holding up with the kids, Maiko?" he asked the woman who resembled their father much youthful days of his life.

"Fine, they are being raised well and are currently healthy and running around in the backyard, Lei, would you like to join them?" the woman named Maiko asked Lei.

"I would love that Mai-chan. Ni Hao to you too." Lei returned the proper greeting towards her sister before making her way into the house.

"She grows beautiful each day, has she expressed interest in a possible suitor yet?" Maiko questioned her father about her little sister's love life.

"My, my Maiko, your motherly nature is strong. Come and observe for yourself whatever questions you have will be answered." Maiko heard her father answered as he looped his arm through her arm.

"Hey Dasha get off of that!' "Adeline quit bullying Adele!" "Xiang, don't eat that!" "Pai don't drink that!" "Rai, can you break up Sayako and Sai!" "Mao, do something than just standing around!" "Where is Fon?"

Lei could hear and see the commotion that the smaller children created for the two eldest siblings: Rai and Mao. If it were not for a high fence all types of creatures would reside in their backyard and be a danger to the kids' safety.

She was caught up in her thoughts about her nieces and nephews that Lei did not see them on a stampede towards her.

"I bet you they'll trample her." Mao stated as she crossed her arms across her chest and shifted her weight to her left foot, hoping the kids would comply with her wish.

"No, she always seem to stop them…it's almost like she's extremely luck or just plain good with kids." Lee welcomed the break but knew his sister hated it.

They watched as the distance between her and the kids dwindle each millisecond, when she turned around and than again and said "Red Light!"

The tiny bobbers tried to slow to a stop but their forward momentum disagreed, as they seem to fall like dominoes until there were no more standing.

"Come on, you are never ready when I say red light but you'll each get a second chance yourselves if you give me a hug and greet your aunt." Lei jokingly said, as the kids seemed to process the request and followed directions.

"I told you…it gets them every time." Rai said before making his way over towards the little children while Mariah puffed out hot air for being wrong.

'_Maybe when Rei get here, he'll ease my mind about my aunt's stay.' _Mao thought, as she remains rooted in her position.

"Hey Mao," Lei knew that she had entered a mind field with no type of metal detector as she was careful not to step on any mines so they would not detonate in her face.

"Hey…Lei," she returned the greeting as she was always taught to be polite from both of her parents no matter how she despises the person even if they currently stood in front of them.

"I'll take them off your hands so you can help your mother with cooking." Lei suggested to Mao.

'_Who does this girl think she is? She is my age and she has the nerve to be telling me what to do?' _Mao asked herself as that was the only way to keep her anger in check and that was talking to herself.

Lei did not receive an automatic answer like the previous tie instead she turned on her heels and walked inside of the house.

She released a held breath, as she was glad that it works as out for her and that no mines had been stepped on.

"Alright what game do you want to play?" Lei turned her attention to the little ones fighting over a ball with Lee, who was trying to avoid major injuries between the children.

"Hey Adeline and Sai, give me the ball, we are going to play dodge ball." Lei's voice did not raise one bit but stayed calm the entire time.

The kids obeyed on a dime as Adeline let the ball go allowing Sai to bring her the ball.

"Alright the rules are simple stay in between those four lines, if you stepped out than your out, okay? If you are hit with the ball sit near the steps of the house." Lei made it understandable for the little children.

The kids cheered from pure joy as they quickly took off from their current location to the boxed area.

"Rai, we are not going to throw hard at all and we aim below for the legs and for the boys, well you know, any place but the treasures." Lei set the ground rules of the game to the kids.

"Okay, deal then. You sure do have a way with the kids though." Lee proclaimed as he took the ball from Lei.

"It's a secret art that I learned from Wushu. Maybe you should take some classes sometimes and you will find the solution" Lei gave him a riddle for her answer.

"Maiko, there is a group of young men at your door, are they for Lee?" Maiko heard her father's voice from living room

"Mom that's, Rei, Kiki and Gao, there here for practice. I'll retrieve them for you." Mao quickly stated as she took the apron off from her waist and ran to words the living room.

"Come on in you three, this is not your first time coming to Lee and my house." Mao stated as she silently hope they did not recognize whom her grandfather was and what position he held.

"Good afternoon, my name is Rei Kon and I am a friend of your granddaughter, it's a pleasure to meet you." Rei bowed at the waist as if he was strict by tradition.

"A well knowledgeable child about tradition, as its custom to greet the eldest first, my, my, my, you and my daughter have the same name meaning but, oh, where's my manners? My name is Xiang-Lu." Lei's father exchanged is greeting with the young man.

"Rei, everyone's outside." Maiko told him when she took a break from cooking and enter the living room.

"Thank you ma'am, and it is a pleasure to meet you, as well sir." He bowed before making his exit.

"What an intriguing kid. You do not see kids like that anymore." He spoke to his daughter once Rei left their presence.

"Yeah, Rei has a one of a kind aura. You think?" Maiko looked at her father and could tell a plan was formulating in his head.

"Adeline, Sai, Daisha, and Pai, you go by the steps of the house." Lei ordered in a gentle tone as she held the ball in her hand.

The quad nodded their heads looked at each other and with disappointment on their face before walking the walk of shame.

"So Adele, Sayako, Fon and Xiang are left in the game." Lei counted off by the names that were still in the box.

When Lei put the ball in motion Mao's voice cut through the excitement, "Hey Rai, Rei and the guys are here we can go now!"

Rai had caught the ball, "Hold on…we're almost finished." He threw the ball and it bounced off Xiang's head.

"Hey no aiming for head!" Xiang's eight-year-old voice protested.

"No hard feelings little brother, that one was for staling my dumplings the other night." Lee stated as Xiang was about to protest again but Lei prevented it.

"I'll give you some of mines to you but only if you sit quietly on the steps but if one peep comes out of you then the deal is off. You got me?" Lei said as Xiang grew silent and made his way over to the steps

Mao, Kiki, Gao, and Rei saw some of the kids sitting patiently and quietly, which was abnormal for kids their age as they looked to see Lee with a ball in his hand with four kids dodging the ball when it landed into a girl's hand not known to Kiki, Gao or Rei.

"Yo, Mariah, whose that girl?" Kiki asked as they watch her toss the ball as it bounced off of Sai and Fon.

"Her…she's my aunt. She's staying with us for a couple of days." Mariah answered in a nonchalant tone as she sparked their curiosity as they continued to watch Rai and Mao's aunt throw the ball back and forward.

The winners are: Pai and Adeline congratulations, you two!" Rai enclosed the two in a hug.

"Hey, Lei I want you to meet some of my friends." Rai said as she grabbed Pai's hand with her right hand and Adeline with the other and rose to her feet.

"Yo, Rai, its good to see you!" Kiki spoke up again when he saw his friend coming closer to where they were standing.

"Oh, I want you three to meet my aunt whose staying with us for a couple of days, Kevin, Gary, and Rei I want you to meet my aunt, Lei. Lei this is Kiki, Gao, and Rei." Rai answered after making his way over to the back part of the steps inside of the house.

"It's a pleasure to meet you three, she bowed out of traditional customs when it comes to introducing herself to new people.

"If you don't mind me asking," Rei started, "how old are you? You look around our age."

"I'm sixteen years old." Lei answered Rei's question with a smile before the children swamped her again.

"Aunt Lei, can we play again…please?" their puppy dogfaces were extremely on max power, as the others seem to have cracked already.


	10. Chapter 10

"We can play as long as you eight want, that is if you help me with putting the dishes up, getting to bed on time and not complaining about chores then it's a deal." Lei spoke gently but still held a firm tone towards the children.

She received varied forms of agreement, which came in the form of "Alright" "Okay" and "Yes."

"Good, because we are going to need backyard for practice." Mao's tone was forceful as Lei filed the kids inside of the house.

"What kind of practice are you five doing?" Lei question her niece's actions.

"It's nothing much…" Mariah was cut off by Rei's voice, "We are practicing for an upcoming beyblading tournament. You can stay and watch along with the kids. That is…"

Mao caught her breath, as she could not believe that Rei had taken such a sudden interest for her aunt

"Can we stay?" Lei knew the children were willing to do whatever she would tell them to do.

She did not answer immediately while wearing an unreadable look on her face before responding with a, "Oh why not, it does seem fun after all."

Lei and the kids that huddled around her legs watched their siblings and their friends practice what she learned was called beyblading.

"Drigger!" "Galux Claw Attack!" The crowd watched as Mao's blade that glowed pink clashed with Rei's white colored blade.

Lei feel vibrations through the ground around her to see if anyone else felt what she did. However they seem intent on finding out was happening in front of them.

"I'm going to go the bathroom right quick." Lei excused herself from the group of children.

Surprisingly the children let her go with little to no fuss at all as she had to maneuver through them, as Rei was distracted when he saw her leaving.

'_Does she not like beyblade?' _he asks himself when he notices his blade flying directly pass him.

"You know Rei, it's not like you to lose your concentration in a bey battle." Mao stated while she reloaded her Galux blade onto her launcher.

"Oh it was nothing but lets try it one more time."

0000

Lei made it quite a ways away from the house as she notice that she was nearing a bamboo forest that had a path cutting straight through the middle of it.

The pulsations were strong in her area and seem to have spread out equally until it even out when she heard the shoots snap in half.

'_What in the world is that?' _Lei inquire inwardly as she was shock to see what she was seeing in front of her eyes.

'_I feel weird…' _Lei thought to herself, as she could feel a small headache coming on as she had to hold her head with her hands.

"So it seems as if a meal has appeared in front of me…this must be my lucky day." She hears the thing talking to her.

She hears what sound like a roar that did not belong to that particular thing in front of her, as it was weird for a lion to roar like a tiger.

0000

"Ma'am. Byakko has appeared in the countryside of China and has come into contact with a DEAVA." A woman's voice can be heard through the rather quiet control room.

'_So Byakko is the second to have awoken, huh?' _Inoue inquired to herself when she saw the word ACTIVATION in capital letters and glowing with a red backdrop.

"GO FREEDOM!" General Inoue said into the microphone, as the computer seemed to run an analysis on her voice.

"Activation Code for White Tiger: Granted. From subject: General Michiko Inoue." The computer answers back in a mechanical tone.

'Now lets see what Byakko has in store for us.' Inoue thought inwardly as they continue to observe the visual of Lei battling against appears to be a mechanical tiger.

0000

'_You have a power that only you can use! So unless you want to die right here, right now then I would advise you to fight for your life!'_

For some reason Lei finds the voice convincing and very reassuring. _'I don't want to die here and not now. I want to live.' _She thought inwardly.

A green light encircles Lei's feet as the surface underneath her breaks apart and flies upwards as well as a dark light, then a yellow ring flashing multiple times afterwards multiple white rings follow. The light unravels revealing Lei in a white kimono that stop mid-thigh. On the maemigoro of her kimono were green tiger stripes; on her obi were a golden yellow color in a puff sparrow style, and wooden zōri with a green strap adorning her feet.

Her black hair was now the color brown and was spiked forward with green diamond shape clips in her hair as a nodachi was resting against her back.

"You're at a disadvantage in the bamboo, aren't you?" Lei ask the DEAVA when she was dashing in and out of the bamboo while it opens its mouth with a ball of light.

A sonic blast emits out of its mouth as it clears the distance of five yards of bamboo that slightly graze a strand of Lei's hair off of her head.

'_I see now.' _She thought to herself as she uses her right foot on the end of the sliced bamboo and use it as a wedge before she sheathing her nodaichi in the process.

She spins and makes a cut on the side of its large body as wires begin to seep out and the lion's head turns to her as she was in close range and fired another sonic blast.

'_It's adaptive to short distance attacks. I wonder would a mid-range attack work on it.' _Lei thought out loud while jumping back seven yards as her left hand holds onto the bamboo stalk before sliding down it.

"Here kitty, kitty," Lei coos as she leans her weight against a slightly weakened bamboo when the thumping of the ground sounds become louder and louder.

"Chew on this!" Lei shout as she releases the bamboo on a silent count as the lion's mouth catches the bamboo within its mouth and it snaps it shut in its mouth.

'_It's just no way around this big cat!' _Lei thought as her wristband starts glowing as she had a feeling that she was suppose to press it.

When she touches it she feels a little shock from her back when she sees that the nodachi that was attach to her back start glowing with lighting.

'_Lighting?' _she asks herself as she unsheathe her weapon one more time and sure enough there was lighting bolts emerging from the sword.

The lion appears in her sights before a bright flash blinds it as Lei recites the following words. "The light that pierces through the shroud of darkness! Inazuma Flash!"

Lei's speed increases as she takes off in a forward dash when she nears her enemy she drags the edge of the nodachi along the ground before slicing the entire lion in half.

Yellow dust seem to have fallen and solidify into a card that was gray with a green corner with yellow lining the picture of the lion that she just faced off with and what looked like a white rock against the green corner.

When she brings her hand up to it the scanner it picks it up and a grid-like light flashes before the card disappears.

'_Got to get back home.' _She thought to herself before a dizzy spell hit her before collapsing onto the soft ground of the bamboo forest.

A couple of minutes later…

Lei feels something nudging her gently in the side as she finds herself still in the bamboo shot forest along with a middle age man with black hair and blue eyes and a dog that resembles a wolf.

"Lei, what are you doing out here all by yourself? It's dangerous for you to be laying about like this." The man belittled her.

"I was looking for something sweet for the kids since they behave well today. So I wanted to get them a treat." Lei told a fib to the man who stood in front of her.

"You mean _my _kids were _behaved_? I need you to come by and baby sit them more often then." They joked when a whining noise from the dog caught her attention.

"Pai-lee, since when did you got a dog?" Lei inquire as she allows the dog to lick her face with its tongue before rising to her feet and pats its head.

"The kids begged me and when Maiko, their mother or your sister, insisted that with ten kids that when one doesn't take care of him then the others will." Pai-lee states as they make their way back to the house.

"I'm not surprised. Maiko loves animals and she claim she learned a lot of life lessons when she had pet." Lei repeats what Maiko told her one-day.

"I didn't know if it was a good thing or not." Pai-lee jokes with his very much younger sister-in-law.

"So what do you say we head on back home? After all I want to see what we will be eating for dinner." Pai-lee suggested to Lei who silently agreed with the proposition.

0000

"Thanks for bringing my husband back home to me Lei-chan. I greatly appreciate the surprise." Maiko stated as they caught her before she left off the paved road.

"No problem, but what about the food?" Lei inquire about the food.

"You know the weirdest thing is that the kids came out of nowhere and offered to help me. I wonder what brought that on?" Maiko states as Pai-lee looks at a now smiling Lei.

"Wow, this looks so good Maiko-chan." Lei states, as she wanted to leave Pai-lee alone with his wife.

"Lei can you tell the kids to go upstairs and wash their hands before sitting down at the table?" Maiko asks her little sister for a favor.

"I don't see the problem in doing that." Lei say before she left Pai-lee alone with his wife.

"Why no I have not. I have been watching all of my kids with my watchful eye. You shall know when my decision is made. Maiko is even talking about Lei's age of courting." Xiang-lu interrupts their conversation.

"Good. All this talk about successors was getting out of hand." Pai-lee says when they can hear the dog whine again. "It's time to feed Wolfe." And guided the dog out of the kitchen.

"So what else do you have plan for your younger sister, Maiko?" Xiang-lu was intrigued about his daughter's plans for Lei.

"Well this would have been the introduction at dinner, then I was going to send her to the market and to a store that is right next to where Rei trains at some of the time, and then we were going to set up a little fireworks show." Maiko went step by step when telling her father about the plan.

"That's so thoughtful of you Maiko! After all, I have gotten the slightest of time to plan her party because of the neighboring strives on rice fields. I'm going to put you in charge of that, Maiko-can." Xiang-lu states.

"What would be a wonderful event, father?" Lei ask her father while she makes her way back to the kitchen.

"Fireworks on a cloudless night with ice cream, moon dumplings, and other sweets doesn't that sound wonder?" Lei's father asks her.

"Yes. The little ones would like that a lot! Oh and everyone is sitting in the living room except Pai-lee, you and you." Lei answers while pointing at Maiko and Xiang-lu exchanges looks with one another follow by a nod of their heads.

Maiko could not believe that the kids set the table beautifully and…perfect. She glanced up as Lei pushed Fon, Adeline, and Xiang closer to the table, placed Sain in the booster seat, fixed Sai and Adele's napkins and silverware on the table.

Lei takes a seat by Fon with one seat to the right of her empty until Rei's group enters the dining room before filling up the rest of the empty seats

"Alright is everyone…" "Hold on, mom." Mao states as she had changed into a nice looking pink dress.

Mao takes a seat across from Rei and in the middle of Sai and Adele who looks anxious to eat the delicious food that was set on the table.

"Xiang-lu, would you so kindly grace the food for us?" Pai-lee questions until he receive the go ahead from his wife, who sits at the far opposite end.

"May Kami-sama grant us our eternal blessings over this food. Also, may she continuously bless us with good health and longevity." Xiang-lu gave a simple grace as bowls, trays, and plates were being passed down and around.

"A extreme practice today, do you think that we will be up to par with Takao's group?" Mao inquires once she grabs some Gyoza Buns from the bin.

"Just a little more and we will be on competing grounds with Takao's group." Rei answers Mao's question before passing the bowl around.

"He sounds like someone you admire as a rival. This Takao person must be good?" Lei state her opinion as she starts off with a small bowl of rice and soup.

"Good guess, actually Takao and I use to blade together when were younger." Rei adds in as he decides to have a bowl of rice too.

Mao knew it was her aunt's nature to take what was hers but Rei…its not going to happen.


	11. Chapter 11

"We can play as long as you eight want, that is if you help me with putting the dishes up, getting to bed on time and not complaining about chores then it's a deal." Lei spoke gently but still held a firm tone towards the children.

She received varied forms of agreement, which came in the form of "Alright" "Okay" and "Yes."

"Good, because we are going to need backyard for practice." Mao's tone was forceful as Lei filed the kids inside of the house.

"What kind of practice are you five doing?" Lei question her niece's actions.

"It's nothing much…" Mao was cut off by Rei's voice, "We are practicing for an upcoming beyblading tournament. You can stay and watch along with the kids. That is…"

Mao catches her breath, as she could not believe that Rei had taken such a sudden interest for her aunt

"Can we stay?" Lei knew the children were willing to do whatever she would tell them to do.

She did not answer immediately while wearing an unreadable look on her face before responding with a, "Oh why not, it does seem fun after all."

Lei and the kids that huddled around her legs watched their siblings and their friends practice what she learned was called beyblading.

"Drigger!" "Galux Claw Attack!" The crowd watched as Mao's blade that glowed pink clashed with Rei's white colored blade.

Lei feel vibrations through the ground around her to see if anyone else felt what she did. However they seem intent on finding out was happening in front of them.

"I'm going to go the bathroom right quick." Lei excused herself from the group of children.

Surprisingly the children let her go with little to no fuss at all as she had to maneuver through them, as Rei was distracted when he saw her leaving.

'_Does she not like beyblading?' _he asks himself when he notices his blade flying directly pass him.

"You know Rei, it's not like you to lose your concentration in a bey battle." Mao stated while she reloaded her Galux blade onto her launcher.

"Oh it was nothing but lets try it one more time."

0000

Lei made it quite a ways away from the house as she notice that she was nearing a bamboo forest that had a path cutting straight through the middle of it.

The pulsations were strong in her area and seem to have spread out equally until it even out when she heard the shoots snap in half.

'_What in the world is that?' _Lei inquire inwardly as she was shock to see what she was seeing in front of her eyes.

'_I feel weird…' _Lei thought to herself, as she could feel a small headache coming on as she had to hold her head with her hands.

"So it seems as if a meal has appeared in front of me…this must be my lucky day." She hears the thing talking to her.

She hears what sound like a roar that did not belong to that particular thing in front of her, as it was weird for a lion to roar like a tiger.

0000

"Ma'am. Byakko has appeared in the countryside of China and has come into contact with a DEAVA." A woman's voice can be heard through the rather quiet control room.

'_So Byakko is the second to have awoken, huh?' _Inoue inquired to herself when she saw the word ACTIVATION in capital letters and glowing with a red backdrop.

"GO FREEDOM!" General Inoue said into the microphone, as the computer seemed to run an analysis on her voice.

"Activation Code for White Tiger: Granted. From subject: General MICHIKO INOUE." The computer answers back in a mechanical tone.

_'Now lets see what Byakko has in store for us.' _General Inoue thought inwardly as they continue to observe the visual of Lei battling against appears to be a mechanical tiger.

0000

'_You have a power that only you can use! So unless you want to die right here, right now then I would advise you to fight for your life!'_

For some reason Lei finds the voice convincing and very reassuring. _'I don't want to die here and not now. I want to live.' _She thought inwardly.

A green light encircles Lei's feet as the surface underneath her breaks apart and flies upwards as well as a dark light, then a yellow ring flashing multiple times afterwards multiple white rings follow. The light unravels revealing Lei in a white kimono that stop mid-thigh. On the maemigoro of her kimono were green tiger stripes; on her obi were a golden yellow color in a puff sparrow style, and wooden zōri with a green strap adorning her feet.

Her black hair was now the color brown and was spiked forward with green diamond shape clips in her hair as a nodachi was resting against her back.

"You're at a disadvantage in the bamboo, aren't you?" Lei ask the DEAVA when she was dashing in and out of the bamboo while it opens its mouth with a ball of light.

A sonic blast emits out of its mouth as it clears the distance of five yards of bamboo that slightly graze a strand of Lei's hair off of her head.

'_I see now.' _She thought to herself as she uses her right foot on the end of the sliced bamboo and use it as a wedge before she sheathing her nodaichi in the process.

She spins and makes a cut on the side of its large body as wires begin to seep out and the lion's head turns to her as she was in close range and fired another sonic blast.

'_It's adaptive to short distance attacks. I wonder would a mid-range attack work on it.' _Lei thought out loud while jumping back seven yards as her left hand holds onto the bamboo stalk before sliding down it.

"Here kitty, kitty," Lei coos as she leans her weight against a slightly weakened bamboo when the thumping of the ground sounds become louder and louder.

"Chew on this!" Lei shout as she releases the bamboo on a silent count as the lion's mouth catches the bamboo within its mouth and it snaps it shut in its mouth.

'_It's just no way around this big cat!' _Lei thought as her wristband starts glowing as she had a feeling that she was suppose to press it.

When she touches it she feels a little shock from her back when she sees that the nodachi that was attach to her back start glowing with lighting.

'_Lighting?' _she asks herself as she unsheathe her weapon one more time and sure enough there was lighting bolts emerging from the sword.

The lion appears in her sights before a bright flash blinds it as Lei recites the following words. "The light that pierces through the shroud of darkness! Inazuma Flash!"

Lei's speed increases as she takes off in a forward dash when she nears her enemy she drags the edge of the nodachi along the ground before slicing the entire lion in half.

Yellow dust seem to have fallen and solidify into a card that was gray with a green corner with yellow lining the picture of the lion that she just faced off with and what looked like a white rock against the green corner.

When she brings her hand up to it the scanner it picks it up and a grid-like light flashes before the card disappears.

'_Got to get back home.' _She thought to herself before a dizzy spell hit her before collapsing onto the soft ground of the bamboo forest.

A couple of minutes later…

Lei feels something nudging her gently in the side as she finds herself still in the bamboo shot forest along with a middle age man with black hair and blue eyes and a dog that resembles a wolf.

"Lei, what are you doing out here all by yourself? It's dangerous for you to be laying about like this." The man belittled her.

"I was looking for something sweet for the kids since they behave well today. So I wanted to get them a treat." Lei told a fib to the man who stood in front of her.

"You mean _my _kids were _behaved_? I need you to come by and baby sit them more often then." They joked when a whining noise from the dog caught her attention.

"Pai-lee, since when did you got a dog?" Lei inquire as she allows the dog to lick her face with its tongue before rising to her feet and pats its head.

"The kids begged me and when Maiko, their mother or your sister, insisted that with ten kids that when one doesn't take care of him then the others will." Pai-lee states as they make their way back to the house.

"I'm not surprised. Maiko loves animals and she claim she learned a lot of life lessons when she had pet." Lei repeats what Maiko told her one-day.

"I didn't know if it was a good thing or not." Pai-lee jokes with his very much younger sister-in-law.

"So what do you say we head on back home? After all I want to see what we will be eating for dinner." Pai-lee suggested to Lei who silently agreed with the proposition.

0000

"Thanks for bringing my husband back home to me Lei-chan. I greatly appreciate the surprise." Maiko stated as they caught her before she left off the paved road.

"No problem, but what about the food?" Lei inquire about the food.

"You know the weirdest thing is that the kids came out of nowhere and offered to help me. I wonder what brought that on?" Maiko states as Pai-lee looks at a now smiling Lei.

"Wow, this looks so good Maiko-chan." Lei states, as she wanted to leave Pai-lee alone with his wife.

"Lei can you tell the kids to go upstairs and wash their hands before sitting down at the table?" Maiko asks her little sister for a favor.

"I don't see the problem in doing that." Lei say before she left Pai-lee alone with his wife.

"Why no I have not. I have been watching all of my kids with my watchful eye. You shall know when my decision is made. Maiko is even talking about Lei's age of courting." Xiang-lu interrupts their conversation.

"Good. All this talk about successors was getting out of hand." Pai-lee says when they can hear the dog whine again. "It's time to feed Wolfe." And guided the dog out of the kitchen.

"So what else do you have plan for your younger sister, Maiko?" Xiang-lu was intrigued about his daughter's plans for Lei.

"Well this would have been the introduction at dinner, then I was going to send her to the market and to a store that is right next to where Rei trains at some of the time, and then we were going to set up a little fireworks show." Maiko went step by step when telling her father about the plan.

"That's so thoughtful of you Maiko! After all, I have gotten the slightest of time to plan her party because of the neighboring strives on rice fields. I'm going to put you in charge of that, Maiko-can." Xiang-lu states.

"What would be a wonderful event, father?" Lei ask her father while she makes her way back to the kitchen.

"Fireworks on a cloudless night with ice cream, moon dumplings, and other sweets doesn't that sound wonder?" Lei's father asks her.

"Yes. The little ones would like that a lot! Oh and everyone is sitting in the living room except Pai-lee, you and you." Lei answers while pointing at Maiko and Xiang-lu exchanges looks with one another follow by a nod of their heads.

Maiko could not believe that the kids set the table beautifully and…perfect. She glanced up as Lei pushed Fon, Adeline, and Xiang closer to the table, placed Sain in the booster seat, fixed Sai and Adele's napkins and silverware on the table.

Lei takes a seat by Fon with one seat to the right of her empty until Rei's group enters the dining room before filling up the rest of the empty seats

"Alright is everyone…" "Hold on, mom." Mao states as she had changed into a nice looking pink dress.

Mao takes a seat across from Rei and in the middle of Sai and Adele who looks anxious to eat the delicious food that was set on the table.

"Xiang-lu, would you so kindly grace the food for us?" Pai-lee questions until he receive the go ahead from his wife, who sits at the far opposite end.

"May Kami-sama grant us our eternal blessings over this food. Also, may she continuously bless us with good health and longevity." Xiang-lu gave a simple grace as bowls, trays, and plates were being passed down and around.

"A extreme practice today, do you think that we will be up to par with Takao's group?" Mao inquires once she grabs some Gyoza Buns from the bin.

"Just a little more and we will be on competing grounds with Takao's group." Rei answers Mao's question before passing the bowl around.

"He sounds like someone you admire as a rival. This Takao person must be good?" Lei state her opinion as she starts off with a small bowl of rice and soup.

"Good guess, actually Takao and I use to blade together when were younger." Rei adds in as he decides to have a bowl of rice too.

Mao knew it was her aunt's nature to take what was hers but Rei…its not going to happen.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: **I decided to use the character Japanese names and I did not realize this until I begin to edit that, Rei (Ray), Rai (Lee), and Lei (Lei) would have the same spelling so I know it will be confusing so I will place the guide here.

**Rei = **Ray

**Rai **= Lee

**Mao = **Mariah

**Gao = **Gary

**Kiki = **Kevin

"So my niece is apart of your beyblading group, right?" Lei inquires about Mao's position in the group.

"Yeah. She's improving her skills with each practice. She will be a threat to someone soon enough." He answers with a sound of seriousness in his tone.

"As expected from her…hold on." She says when she turns to face Fon, who was beginning to make a mess of her noodles when Lei cleans her niece up.

"She is a very hard worker and dedicated to her craft." Lei answers, as she had complimented Mao, who was currently refilling her plate with salad.

"What about you Lei? It seems as if you have a way with children." Rei spoke as it reminded her of the conversation she had earlier with Rai.

"It's a secret that I learned from my training in Wushu." She supplies an answer to his question, as it causes Rei to raise his eyebrow in surprise at what he just heard.

"So what art from are you learning Rei? After all, it is said that boys often have to learn some form of martial arts in order to defend themselves and their future family from harm, right?" Lei poses towards Rei.

"My preference is Kung-fu. Our beyblading coach has his own dojo, but he does not use it often rather he chose to stay in the mountains. He says it allows him to meditate in the quietness that surround him." Rei claims with a genuine smile on his face.

"It sounds calming…maybe I should try it on my visit here." Lei states as she bits and chews on a piece of fish.

"Let me know when you want to go, since they mountains path tend to switch a lot. Besides, my master would enjoy the company too." Rei responds as he scoops and places some rice in his mouth.

"That sounds wonderful, I will let you know when I am available. It seems as if I will be stuck inside helping my sister with the children. She does need a break every now and then." Lei told of her joy of the opportunity to go but realization hit her.

"Well you can bring them along to, they are quite attach to me as well." Rei informs her.

Lei could feel a menacing presence that was directed at her and she knew all to well who it was coming from. "I think Mao would enjoy it more than I would…"

That cause Rei to glance at Mao who wore a wide smile on her face while she was reaching for more food to place on her plate.

"She goes up there regularly as well since we train up there…" Rei adds in.

'_He really doesn't understand the compromising position I am in. What should I do next?' _Lei inwardly thought to herself.

Maiko knew her sister inside and out and could tell Lei was fighting herself to not accept the invitation that Rei extended out to her. She felt like it was time for the big sister to step in but what happened next pause her in her action.

"Aunt Lei," Maiko hears all of her children call to Lei in unison, which does not happen often unless she yells at them or when Lei is present.

Once they all manage to gain Lei's attention before they asked her, "Can we go with Rei up to the mountains?"

Lei scans all the children faces and could tell that they really wanted to go and that they wanted her to join them as well.

"I will go…but only on two conditions," Lei starts with her arms folded across her chest, "the first one is...if your mother says its okay and only if you clean up after dinner, do your nightly chores, and follow bedtime routine."

The children hold their own little celebration as they begin to happily chatter about their future visit to the mountains showing their excitement and anxiousness.

Mao could not believe what her siblings just did for Lei, _'So they want her to be their sister now? I never had that kind of reaction from them before.' _

She silently simmers in her own anger as dinner was now winding down and it was time for Rei, Gao and Kiki to make their way back home.

Rai, Lei and Mao walks Gao, Kiki and Rei to their front door to see them properly off since they were their visiting guests.

"Why did she have to come along with us to the door?" Mao whispers her question to her older brother, Rai.

Rai knew the real reason as to why Mao really asked that question, "It is called being polite."

"It was nice meeting you three!" Lei waves them off as they return the gesture as Rai and a simmering Mao did their own form of a goodbye to the trio.

"See, now was that so hard?" Mao heard her brother asked her once Lei was out of hearing distance.

"Shut up!" she exclaims before storming off in the direction in where Lei just walked to while Rai shakes his head at his sister's actions.

'_I wonder if Takao received my letter yet?' _Rei inwardly thought to himself while they were making their way through the bamboo forest.

0000

Takao covered up his sneeze with the inside of his elbow, "Are you coming down with a cold?"

"I don't think so…" he answers Hiromi question after checking his forehead and found that he was not hot.

"Then that could mean only one thing…" Hiromi says before scrubbing a rice bowl with a towel clean.

Takao takes the bowl from her hand while turning on the water before saying, "Probably just someone talking about me."

"If that's so don't you think you would hold the world's record for the most sneezes in a day?" Hiromi jokes with him when she washes off the metal cup that held the rice with the same towel.

Takao just laughs off the question when he was handed his next item to wash off before placing it in the dish holder.

"Thank you for helping me with the dishes." She thanks him once they finished scrubbing, washing and drying out the last dining ware that was used for the night.

While Hiromi dries her hands off on a spare towel, her mind travels to the welfare of her mother, after all she did gave birth to her.

"Are you alright, Hiromi?" Takao asks after waving his hand in front of her face.

"Oh sorry about that…" Hiromi apologizes, "I started to daydream."

"I asked you whether or not you want to take a shower first since I was planning to do a little practicing." He explains what he was talking about earlier before she had zoned out.

"That's fine. I am a little tired after cooking all of that food." She claims before she stifles a yawn with one of her hands.

"If it counts for any thing the food was delicious Hiromi," he informs her before he left her in the kitchen alone.

A smile graces her face along with a pink tint on her face after hearing Takao compliment about her cooking.

'_What am I doing? This is Takao that I am talking to…you know the one with the over confident bravado who eats, breath and sleep spinning tops.' _She thought to herself.

Hiromi shakes her head hoping that it would clear those thoughts from her head before deciding that the shower would be best.

0000

"General Inoue, Byakko has returned back to her civilian form and her readings have been steady. No signs of stress or fatigue, ma'am." A solider, who was designated to Byakko announced.

"What about the task force? Where is there location as of now?" she inquires about the location of the task force.

"Ma'am the task force ETA is six hours away and is within 250 miles away from our circular range." A solider reports to her.

"Keep me posted on their time as well as the status of Seiryuu and Byakko. That is all." She announced to the group of soldiers, who were in charge of the two respective deities.

General Inoue takes a leave from the control center with the destination of her office in mind.

"2nd Lt. Alma," she calls for her second in command.

He appeared a couple of minutes later after emerging from an elevator before saluting her. "Was the Colonel promptly notified of the awakening of the second solider?"

"Yes, ma'am. He requested that we send him the files on all four of the girls." He relayed the order that he was given after briefly conversing with the Colonel.

"What!" she exclaims as she was glad that it was not in front of her subordinates. "He claims that it would be a huge asset for him to take a personal look at the files ma'am."

"It's like he is trying to take over this program but requesting for such confidential information at this time? What is he trying to pull?" Inoue asks her questions out loud.

"Ma'am permission to speak on the subject matter." 2nd Lt. Alma request since what he had to say would be out of line if he said it without permission.

"Granted." She agrees, as she was curious to hear his opinion on what he thought about the move the Colonel made.

"Since the program is in its premature stage, it is not attracting the attention that could possibly be obtain. With the Colonel requesting such data on the girls when all of them are not in their awaken stage is very dangerous. There is a possibility that he would like to speed up the results in his favor so he could take the credit." He proposes toward her.

"I told that old geezer that you simply can not rush this process since we do not know exactly when our girls would be chosen as the guardian for their respective deity." She speaks up as what Alma just told her made some sense.

"We will just have to send him the information that we already know off. Even I don't want to push my lucky by saying this but the rest of them could come online at the same time would work out in our favor." She explains the plan of action for handling their current situation.

He simply nods his head in agreement before watching his General walking down the hallway that led to her office.

'_Alright then dad…you want to play the game then prepare to be played!' _she thought to herself.

0000

The sound of Dragoon spinning around on the dish always seem to calm Takao's rushing thoughts whenever he had too much to think about or if he was nervous before a big match.

"Dragoon, what would you do?" he inquires to the top as it spun in circles and circles.

"She trusts me so much that she ran to my home after receiving such a blow to the jaw." He informs Dragoon.

"I mean for all we know her jaw could be broken by whomever that is who punched?" he says as he had clenched his hands in a tight fist.

'_A swollen jaw…a black eye…how much pain does Hiromi has to endure at her home?' _he thought to himself.

His anger causes Dragoon to stop spinning which catches his attention, "I know. I won't let it affect me in the matches but it keeps bothering me."

When he reaches over to pick up Dragoon, the moon light flashes on the faceplate causing it to shine before he clutches his beloved bey with all of his strength.

'_As long as she is wearing that smile then that is all that matters, right?' _he thought before reloaded the bey back into the launcher.

"3…2…1…Let it Rip!"

0000

Morning rolls around as Hiromi shoots forward remembering that it was her turn to do morning duty for the last time.

'_There's a clock in the kitchen…' _she remember as she rolled out of her futon and to her duffle bag.

'_How could I forget so easily…' _she thought as she hurries to step into her white skirt and sticks her head in the hole of her pink shirt.

She managed to make it out of the room with both of her shoes on the right feet as she quietly tip toes pass the room where she could hear Takao's loud snoring, which meant that he was deep in slumber.

Since Hiromi did not see the elder Kinoyama when she was passing where every one would rest for the night, she figured that he was already up for the day.

"Good morning, Hiromi. You sure are up bright and earlier, might I ask why?" Grandpa inquires, as to the reason why she was up at this time.

"I have morning duty today and I am running a little behind…" She answers when she realize that she did not have enough time to at least toast a slice of bread.

Grandpa notices that she had hesitated a little when she hopped off of the platform and soon figured out why she paused, "Don't worry about _him_…I will wake him up with the trick you taught me the last time. Now get along before you are later."

She glances towards the older man before nodding her head as she waves him off and takes off runing to her destination.

A couple of minutes into her run towards the school did she realize that she did not feel fatigue as she normally would when doing physical activity but something causes her to stop her in her tracks.

"Hey Hiromi wait up…" she glances over her right shoulder to see that it was none other than…


End file.
